


Tin Can and a Tank

by daddyoshie



Category: House of Anubis
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Drinking, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Intimacy, Long-Term Relationship(s), Marriage Proposal, Sexual Content, Wedding Planning, Weddings, bc i'm a big fan, guest starring mick and kt, literally nothing bad happens bc i make the rules, patricia/alfie/jerome friendship, some canon divergence, will add more tags as chapters go on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:15:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27241795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daddyoshie/pseuds/daddyoshie
Summary: “So, Yacker, what do you say?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye. “Marry me?”And in that moment she loved him more than she thought possible, and she knew she’d never be able to say no to his dumb face. “Of course I will, doofus.”
Relationships: Eddie Miller/Patricia Williamson, Jerome Clarke/Mara Jaffray, Nina Martin/Fabian Rutter
Comments: 12
Kudos: 23





	1. Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yup, this is a wedding fic. This is for my own personal satisfaction, and it's gonna be straight cheese.  
> The context: it's about 5 years after graduation, Patricia and Eddie have been together all through university and are still together, they’re 23, and they currently live together in England.  
> Now, I don’t acknowledge season 3, season 3 doesn't exist to me, so I'm going to set the rules because in my world I do what I want. I imagine that in their last year of school general Sibuna shit happened with Eddie involved, but the specifics of what happened are unimportant to me (because who cares about season 3).  
> Because there is no season 3, that means in this world, there are the following changes:  
> -Nina and Amber never left  
> -No KT or Willow at this school cause who cares  
> -Fabina never broke up  
> -Absolutely NO Fabian/Mara or Jerome/Joy because GROSS, I literally hate everything about both those pairings  
> -Joy is a lesbian
> 
> I plan for this to have 4 chapters in total, and hopefully it won't be long until the next one is ready. Now, please enjoy two idiots in love and literally nothing bad happening because this is wish fulfillment baby

Even after all these years, Patricia’s heart still beat a little bit faster whenever she went out on a date night with her boyfriend. Date night number one had been when they were seventeen, at the Anubis House dining table, and she hadn’t been able to speak. Literally. Now, they were twenty-three, and they were living together. And it still felt as thrilling as the first time.

Currently, they were taking a walk through one of the parks in the city, meandering down the clear, grassy lawn. It was nighttime, and it was early November, so they were in their coats. Patricia had her arm looped through Eddie’s, holding him close to her side. And even though tonight wasn’t anything super out of the ordinary for them, it was still romantic for her, and she still got butterflies every time, because she was in love with this idiot.

They had just finished a meal at a fancy restaurant, where they had been the bane of the existence of every single other person there with their “loud and improper behavior,” according to an old guy who’d been at a neighboring table. Whatever. Served him right for being pretentious and snooty.

“You know, one of these days we’re gonna get ourselves kicked out of one of those places,” Patricia said.

“Life goal, honestly,” Eddie responded. “Get banished for life from an establishment for having too much fun and being much too cool for them.”

“I love going to fancy restaurants and making a ruckus and having everyone stare at us like we’re a pair of ratty street children.”

“Nothing is more satisfying than disrupting the party. Seeing the scandalized, condescending faces of all the snobby old people is the best.”

“Remember that time at your dad’s tea party? I thought his head would pop like a grape.”

“I think we were the most sensible people there. Who needs that many forks, anyway?”

As they continued walking, Patricia spotted something aways across the lawn. There was a setup with lights and a bunch of colors. It looked like some kind of performance group.

She pointed at the lights in the distance. “Hey, check that out.”

As they got closer, they saw that it was indeed a performance group. Artsy people put on little productions in the park all the time, so this was nothing new. Patricia and Eddie stopped about twenty meters away to watch and take it in from a distance. Patricia wasn’t sure exactly what was happening, but there was music playing, all of the performers were wearing fancy, glittery clothing, and everyone was either wearing or holding a mask. It was almost like a masquerade ball. Patricia suddenly got vivid flashbacks from a similar event that had happened many years ago.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Eddie asked.

“Our first dance?” she suggested.

He smiled at her. “That’s exactly what I was thinking of, actually.”

They stood there for a moment, arm in arm and side by side, watching the performers as they began to twirl around. Memories came flooding back, and Patricia found herself reminiscing about a night she held more dearly than she’d readily admit.

“Do you remember how that night went?” Patricia asked.

Eddie chuckled. “Well, obviously,” he said. “You told me you don’t dance and then broke your own rules immediately.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“You _liked_ it, too,” he teased. “Just wanted to dance with me _so_ badly.”

“Maybe,” she admitted begrudgingly. “But only because you sweet talked me so much.”

Eddie smirked to himself. “As is my specialty,” he said, making Patricia roll her eyes. “Part of my master plan to make you fall in love with me.”

Well, mission accomplished.

As they stood there, huddled close together in the autumn chill, she realized she wanted to hear those words again. The words that had first signaled to her that he was serious about his feelings. _I’m just a tin can, standing in front of a tank, asking her to dance with me_. That was the same moment she had realized her own feelings for him, as well. She wanted to hear him say it to her, to relive that moment and let those memories and feelings wash over her again.

“Say it again,” she said.

“Say what again?”

“What you said to me that night.” She turned her head to look at him. “You know what I mean, Mr. Tin Can.”

He smirked. “Getting sappy on me?”

She playfully shoved at him with her free hand. “I’m trying to relive a nice moment. Just do it, please. Maybe I’ll even dance with you again when you ask.”

He considered for a moment, and then his expression melted into a small smile, which meant he was going to do it. It was very sweet of him to oblige her. He dropped her arm and moved from her side to stand in front of her. He gazed at her with an unbelievably soft and tender look on his face, which was probably more sincere than she deserved for a silly little reenactment. But she still felt herself flutter with anticipation nonetheless. She couldn’t help but smile as he started to say it to her.

“I’m just a tin can, standing in front of a tank, asking her to marry me.”

 _Hold up_. “Wait wha—”

Her heart all but stopped as he went down on one knee. She knew she looked like a fool, standing there wide-eyed and open-mouthed, but her brain was unable to process anything enough to care. Seeing her boyfriend on one knee in front of her did not feel real, and she was surprised she had the ability to say even one word to him.

“Eddie?”

She was fairly certain her brain short-circuited when he reached into his coat pocket and took out a little black box. All she could focus on was the dumb, dopey look on his face and the words that came out of his mouth. “Patricia, I love you, and I fall more in love with you every day. And I would love nothing more than to spend every day for the rest of my life falling even more in love with you. Now, I’ve been through a _lot_ of scary things in my life, and I have never been as terrified as I am right now in this moment.”

He chuckled nervously. “Here I am, a tin can, giving you my entire heart and hoping that you don’t crush it. My heart is completely yours, you can do what you want with it, it’s too late for me, I am already so stupidly in love with you. And if you give me the chance I will never stop trying to make you as happy as you make me.”

He paused for a second, exhaling. “Sorry, I am yacking way too much, time to get to the point.” He cleared his throat and readjusted, looking her in the eye. “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be with you, and I don’t want to stop doing that, ever. Patricia,” he opened the box to reveal a dazzling ring inside, “will you marry me?”

Patricia was speechless. She hadn’t been expecting this at all. Ten years ago, the thought of someone proposing to her would have been inconceivable. And now, there was a guy down on one knee asking her — _her!_ — for her hand. The idiot she was crazy about was offering her every part of him. She, frankly, wasn’t quite sure how to process that. She felt completely overwhelmed, and she had no idea what to say. All she could do was stay completely still so that her emotions didn’t get out of control, and so that she didn’t burst into tears.

Eddie started to look a little nervous. “I was...kind of expecting you to say something.”

She realized just how long she’d been staring at him like an idiot. She felt a little bad, just leaving him down there waiting in agony for a response. She gathered up all of her courage so she could say something back to him.

“I’m sorry, I’m just trying not to cry.”

“Hopefully not bad tears?” he asked cautiously.

Patricia let out a laugh. However, that did nothing to stop her quickly escalating emotions. She felt her eyes start to water, and she tried to blink it away, but that just made the tears start to fall.

“Well that failed immediately,” she said, wiping at her cheek. “I’m glad you didn’t do this around people we know, I don’t want anyone but you to see me cry.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” he said softly. “And you know I wouldn’t do this around anyone we know, I’m not insane.”

The tears started flowing a little bit more. She looked at him incredibly fondly. “Oh, Eddie. You know I’m not the best at the whole ‘talking about my feelings’ thing. This is a lot. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed, and I’m not quite sure how I’m supposed to string together a coherent sentence, and...oh, but look at your cute face. You make me crazy, you know that? You spring this on me, and I can’t think straight because of your dumb smile and the way you look at me and...and…” She got incredibly frustrated trying to put words together, so she just said what she meant. “God, I love you, you stupid idiot.”

His face started to brighten up. “Yeah?”

She nodded.

“So, Yacker, what do you say?” he asked, a twinkle in his eye. “Marry me?”

And in that moment she loved him more than she thought possible, and she knew she’d never be able to say no to his dumb face. “Of course I will, doofus.”

He broke into the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face. Eddie rose to his feet, cradled her face with both hands, and kissed her, long and slow. Given how emotional they both were right now, Patricia thought it was the best kiss they’d ever had. She felt him smile against her lips, which made her do the same. When he pulled away to reach for the ring box, she couldn’t help but notice the utter giddiness on his face.

Eddie took her left hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger. This was the first time Patricia had been able to get a really good look at it, because her adrenaline had been going haywire when he’d first opened up the box. The ring had a black band and was adorned with three diamonds, two smaller ones sandwiching a bigger one in the middle. It was fucking gorgeous, and she was so pleased it wasn’t a run of the mill ring; she wasn’t too enamored by the typical gold or silver, and the stones on this one were a very nice size and shape.

“You did good,” she said, admiring it on her hand.

“I thought you’d like it. Nothing traditional and boring for you.”

Patricia smiled, moving her gaze from the ring to Eddie. She lightly shoved at his chest.

“You wanker, surprising me like that.”

Eddie grinned. “You had no clue that was coming, did you?”

“No, not a clue!” She paused for a moment, thinking. “The fancy meal, the nighttime walk by the performers. Did you plan this all somehow?”

“Nope, not at all,” he said. “I’ve actually been carrying this thing around for weeks, waiting for the right moment.”

“ _Weeks_?” Patricia asked incredulously. “You’ve had it for _weeks_?”

“Remember a few weekends ago when I went out to that lunch?” He lifted up her left hand. “That was a total lie, I was out getting this bad boy.”

A lightbulb went off in her head as she had some tickling suspicions confirmed. “I _knew_ you weren’t having lunch with your _dad_!”

“Guilty as charged,” he admitted. “Since then, I’ve basically had it on my person at all times.”

“So if I had searched your coat pockets I would’ve found it at any time?”

“Yup,” he confirmed. “Would’ve ruined all my grand plans though.”

“Yeah, of course, your _grand plans_ ,” she teased, jokingly jabbing at him.

He smiled. “I honestly didn’t plan anything. I have literally been waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And when you brought up the dance and what I said...well, I’d be dumb if I didn’t take that opportunity.”

“God, I really laid that out on a platter for you, didn’t I?”

“Just a little,” he said with a cheeky grin. “It's almost like your subconscious knew it was coming.”

“Yeah, sure, okay.” She shook her head ever so slightly. Then she looked up into those gorgeous hazel eyes of his. “Did I scare you a little bit there?” she asked. “Not saying anything at first?”

“Uh, _yeah_.” He put his hand on his chest. “My heart was _pounding_. Like, scarily fast. I thought it was gonna bust out of my ribcage.”

She took the hand from his chest and held it. “Aw, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. You surprised me, I _panicked_. I had no idea what to say.”

“Which would be a first for you.”

She scrunched her face up. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“I prefer to think of it as lucky _and_ cute,” he specified. “I’m adorable, obviously. _And_ I somehow got the girl of my dreams to agree to marry me. If that doesn’t make me lucky, I don’t know what does.”

“If you keep talking like that, you might just get me to fall in love with you.”

Eddie caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, brushing against the ring. “I think it’s a bit too late for that, babe. That ship has sailed.”

She smiled, looking down at her left hand holding his and the sparkling ring on her finger. She wondered how many people knew about what he was planning.

“Did you tell anyone you were gonna do this?” she asked, looking back up.

“Not a soul,” Eddie answered. “Well, except the guy at the jewelry store. I may have gotten way too overexcited and told him far too many details.”

Patricia giggled. “The image of you babbling on and on to some poor old man at a shop is quite funny, actually.”

“Uh, he was not old, he was forty at the most, and by the end of the transaction he probably would have been willing to give it to me for free if it had gotten me out of his face faster.”

“Aw, why didn’t you annoy him more? We could’ve gotten a free ring.”

Eddie chuckled. “But to answer your actual question: no, I did not tell anyone we know. Didn’t tell anyone I was gonna do it, didn’t even tell anyone I was thinking about it. Right now, we are the only ones who know.” He smiled. “Our little secret.”

“I’d like to keep it that way, at least for tonight,” she said, taking hold of his coat lapel and pulling him closer to her. “I wanna keep you all to myself.”

Eddie reached up and lightly brushed a lock of hair out of her face, the tips of his fingers just barely grazing her skin. “I’m all yours. Forever.”

Patricia felt a warm, tingly feeling spread through her, and she had to fight off the incredibly strong urge to be all over him right this second. “Can we go home now?” she asked.

Eddie took her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “Absolutely.”

Patricia felt like she was walking on cloud nine the entire way home. When they walked through their front door, they didn’t even bother turning on the lights. The second they closed the door behind them, Patricia turned around and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, pulling him to her and kissing him. Eddie reciprocated by returning the kiss, wrapping his arms around her back and holding her close. Their kissing was deliberate and deep, with a sense of yearning behind it. She tried to take it slow, savoring the taste of him. Patricia felt a sense of tenderness and security as he held her, and she didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world. She thought that maybe this was a perfect moment, one that she tried to hang onto for as long as possible.

Patricia didn’t want it to end, but after a few minutes, they drew their lips away and rested their foreheads together. And even in the darkness, she could still see the glimmer in his eyes and the smile on his lips, and she thought she had never seen anything so beautiful.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” she whispered back.

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“You’re my fiancée now.”

“‘Fiancée’? Oh, that’s weird.”

“Well, you better get used to it, fiancée.”

“Well, you’re still a weasel.” She cracked a smile. “Fiancé.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that.” He tightened his arms around her. “Say it again.”

She lowered her voice. “Maybe in the other room.”

“Oh?” he asked, suggestion thick in his voice. “Well, come on, then.”

Eddie then took her by the hand and led her into their bedroom. And as the coats hit the floor and hands started to touch bare skin, Patricia felt that she had never been happier in her entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a visual: this is the ring I've described and the exact one you should be picturing - https://www.jewelrybygaro.com/forever-brilliant-moissanite-diamonds-engagement-ring-vintage-wedding-ring-1-40-carat-14k-black-gold-handmade/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqIaXpcLW7AIVEwCGCh28MwDiEAQYBiABEgIV2fD_BwE
> 
> Stay tuned for the next chapter, featuring ~telling people the big news~


	2. Breaking the News, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original plans for this chapter got pretty long, so I'm splitting it into two and there will now be five chapters.
> 
> There is an Anubis House group chat in this chapter, which includes basically the season 2 crew: Patricia, Eddie, Nina, Fabian, Amber, Mara, Jerome, Alfie, Joy
> 
> Some notes on everyone's location: The HOA wiki says that the school is in Liverpool?? So for the purposes of this fic I'm imagining that's where the school is (or at least it's near there). In this fic, Patricia and Eddie live in Liverpool, along with Joy, Jerome, and Alfie. Mara lives in Manchester, a bigger city about an hour away. Nina and Fabian are together and live in America in Nina's hometown of Cleveland, and Amber lives in Paris working in fashion.
> 
> Now enjoy some fluff, lots of gratuitous kissing, and fun with your friends.

Patricia’s eyes fluttered open the next morning. It was a lazy Saturday, and it was sometime in the late morning. From the window, streaks of sunlight were flooding in through the blinds, bathing the room in a warm glow.

Eddie was still asleep, his arm hanging off the side of the bed, as usual. She had never understood how it would get like that or how he could stand to sleep like that, but it had made for ample prank opportunities over the years.

But not right now. No pranks this morning, not after last night’s proposal and all the nice things he’d said to her. The boy earned himself a pass.

She couldn’t help but admire the ring. She got butterflies when she looked at it, knowing what it meant. She held her hand in the air in front of her face as she laid on her back. It really was pretty, and she just loved the fact that the band was black. It was incredibly unique, and it felt much more like her than a standard color. That idiot knew her pretty well.

She was engaged. She was officially an engaged woman. She had to keep saying that to herself over and over so that it sunk in and didn’t feel like a fantasy. She didn’t think it would ever happen, yet here she was. It was a tad scary, sure, but in the end, she didn’t want to be without this doofus.

Speaking of the doofus, Patricia heard him start to stir next to her. He groaned as he stretched his arms out. “Good morning.” He rolled onto his side. “Did I just catch you admiring that?”

Patricia snatched her hand out of the air. “Uh, no.” She rolled onto her side away from him.

Eddie snuggled up against her back and threw an arm around her, holding it snug against her chest. He had assumed the position of big spoon, and his breath tickled Patricia’s ear as he spoke. “Uh huh. Sure.” He planted kisses on her cheek and neck. “I won’t tell anyone you were admiring something shiny.”

“And I won’t tell anyone I punched you in the gut,” she retorted, making no motion to do such a thing.

“Aw, Yacker, that’s hurtful.” He squeezed her tighter. “I think I’m distraught. As revenge, I’m going to keep you here in bed all day long.”

“Not _all_ day, I’m starving.”

“Breakfast in bed?”

“Remember how well that went the last time?”

“Okay, the syrup was my mistake.”

That incident definitely landed in the top five of all-time Eddie blunders. “Don’t think I want to have a repeat performance.”

“Alright, scratch that,” he said, moving to kiss her neck once more. “How about just a _little_ bit longer, then?” he suggested, his voice low and sultry.

She wasn’t going to say no to him when he talked to her like that. “I guess I could tolerate it.”

He started kissing her again, sending warm waves of pleasure down her spine and into her toes. She couldn’t help but melt into his touch; it felt like the safest place in the world.

“You might put me right back to sleep,” she murmured.

“Hopefully you don’t start snoring again.”

She scoffed and made a face at him, even though he could not actually see her face. “You know, it’s only a matter of time before the monsters under the bed get your wayward arm in your sleep.”

“Well, the monsters better think of something more creative than whipped cream next time.”

She flipped herself onto her other side to face him. His arm was still around her, now on her back, and their noses were practically touching. “Be careful what you wish for,” she whispered.

He smiled, and she leaned in and kissed him. His hand moved from her back to the back of her head, cradling the side of her face. They kissed for a few moments, lazily, until they were interrupted by the loud rumbling of Patricia’s stomach.

A cheeky grin tugged at Eddie’s lips. “Uh oh, does that mean the monsters are coming to get me?”

“Funny,” she said, poking him on the nose. “No, it means it’s time to get out of bed.”

Fifteen minutes later they had moved to their couch, where they were eating a little breakfast while idly watching whatever was on TV on a late Saturday morning. Patricia’s feet were tucked under her, and Eddie was sitting right at her side. His hair was sticking up on one side, and she wasn’t going to tell him. She thought it made him look cute.

Eddie turned towards her so he was actually facing her. “Okay, I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?”

“I think today we tell our friends the big news. All at once, preferably. We can save ourselves some repetition.”

“What we gonna do, just drop it in the group chat?” Patricia said sarcastically. “‘Hey guys, we’re getting married’?”

“Well…we _could_.”

“Uh, Eddie, this feels too important to just bring up like a conversation piece.”

“Okay, but hear me out…what if we have a little fun with it? We send a casual-looking photo, nothing out of the ordinary. And the ring is in it, but like not obvious. We say nothing about it, and just wait for them to catch it.”

Patricia looked at him skeptically.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Eddie pleaded. “Just imagine the big surprise and uproar when they all realize it. Plus, I want to see who notices first.”

Patricia considered. The idea of telling people made her anxious, but this would be an excellent way to do it. She _was_ a big fan of pranking her friends. “That _would_ be good,” she conceded. “But I have to tell Joy separately first, she’d never forgive me if I didn’t.”

“That’s fair. Just make sure she doesn’t ruin the surprise for everyone else.”

“She won’t. She knows not to spoil a good prank.”

Eddie looked delighted. “This is gonna be so good. We gotta figure out what we want this picture to be. And it’s gotta be constructed perfectly. Can’t make it too obvious, but you still have to be able to see it. Hm, when did you want to do that? Now? Soon?”

“Alright, slow your roll. No need to rush. We have all day. If we want Fabian and Nina to respond right away we’ve got to send it later, anyway. Time zones, you know.”

“You’re right, you’re right. Sorry, I’m just excited.”

She leaned in and kissed him. “Never apologize for being excited.”

He kissed her right back. “Okay.”

* * *

A few hours later, after putting themselves together for the day, the two of them were lounging in the living room, her sitting in the middle of the couch and him against the right arm, scrolling on his phone. As they sat there in a bit of a lull, Patricia realized that now would probably be the best time to call Joy, especially if they were going to be talking to the group chat later that night. The idea of telling Joy the news and talking about feelings made her a little nervous, but it was time.

“I think I need to call Joy now,” Patricia announced.

“Alright, cool,” Eddie replied nonchalantly, not looking up.

“Which means you need to go away.”

That made him look up, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I’m sorry?”

“I can’t look at you and talk to someone else at the same time.”

Eddie nodded, jokingly, in understanding. “‘Cause I’m just too distracting, I get it. I’d get distracted, too.”

Patricia rolled her eyes. “ _No_ , it’s not quite like that.” She hadn’t planned on elaborating, but Eddie sat there patiently, looking at her earnestly, and she suddenly felt compelled to explain herself. “If you look at me while I try and talk mushy about you with someone else I won’t be able to do it.” She knew if that happened she would just freeze and wouldn’t be able to get through the conversation. “It’s like eavesdropping except I know you’re listening.”

“Don’t want me to hear all the nice things you have to say about me?” he teased.

“You’ll just look at me with that face. I can’t have a rational conversation when you do that.”

He moved closer to her, closing the gap between them. “Can’t help myself, of course I wanna look at you.” He put his arm over the top of the couch behind her. “And you know I love to hear people talk about me.”

She found herself drawn closer to him, attracted to him like a magnet. “Well, what I say is just going to have to be a mystery.”

Their faces were incredibly close together now. Eddie looked down through his eyelashes at her. “You know I love a good mystery.”

It would have been so easy to close the mere inches between their lips. Patricia had to hold herself back from making out with him and procrastinating any longer. She shoved at his chest, a playful smile on her face. “Now go away! I can’t have this phone call with you looking at me.”

Eddie returned her playful smile and stood up. “How about I go and pick up some lunch, then? Give you some time for this important call.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll be back soon.” He grabbed his jacket and keys by the door and walked out.

Alone, in the silence of the living room, the nerves started to seep in. Part of her wanted to throw her phone across the room and never tell anyone about her personal business ever; talking about her feelings still made her feel vulnerable, which she did not like. She tried to talk some sense into herself. It was just Joy, nothing bad was going to happen by telling her. _She’s not even going to make fun of you. She’s going to be happy for you. She might freak out, but in a good way._

Patricia picked up her phone, her heart starting to beat a little bit faster. She’d thought about video calling Joy, but there was no way Patricia would ever be able to get through this conversation if she had to actually look at Joy’s face. This had to be a phone call.

Well, there was no time to waste. She had to do this before Eddie got back; she couldn’t talk about him with Joy while he looked at her with that face. There was no way. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and called Joy.

Joy picked up after the second ring. “Hey, Patricia! It’s nice to hear from you.”

“It’s always nice to hear your voice too, Joy.”

“So what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much,” she lied. “Hey, how was that date with that girl Clara?”

“Eh, didn’t really pan out. Not quite my type,” Joy said. “Speaking of dates, weren’t you guys supposed to go on that fancy date last night? How’d it go?”

She felt butterflies whiz around in her stomach. “Amazing, actually. Better than I ever could have hoped.”

“Damn, it must have been one hell of a date. Listen to you, you sound all giddy.”

Patricia paused, building up her courage. This was the moment. She had to grow a pair and break the news now, otherwise she might never do it. “Hey, Joy? I’ve got something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I wanted you to be the first person I told.”

“Oh, don’t keep me in suspense, Patricia, what happened?”

Patricia took a deep breath. “Eddie proposed to me last night.”

Joy gasped dramatically, and Patricia really wished she could have seen the reaction on her face. “Oh my _god_!” Her voice was on the verge of becoming hysterical. “You serious, Patricia? You’re not punking me? This is for real?”

“I swear I’m not punking you, this is definitely real. I can send you a photo of the ring if you like.”

“Yes! Right now, please.”

Patricia shook her head a little. She knew that Joy would have a mini freakout. She took her phone away from her ear, held her left hand out in front of her, snapped a photo, and sent it off to Joy. Joy was already screaming and squealing when Patricia got back on the line.

“It’s gorgeous! And it’s so you. Oh, Patricia, you’re _engaged_! I’m so happy for you.”

Patricia felt a warm, fuzzy feeling blossom in her gut. “Thanks. I am, too.”

“How did it happen? Tell me all the details.”

Patricia gave her the rundown of what had happened. She didn’t recount it word for word, as some of those words she wanted to keep between just her and Eddie, but it still made Joy wistfully sigh anyway.

“Oh, that’s _so_ romantic! It’s like a romcom. I might cry, honestly.”

“Joy, you can’t cry!” Patricia protested. “If you cry, I’ll definitely cry.”

“Did you cry when he asked you to marry him?”

“Shut up!”

“Oh, you _did_! Oh, that’s sweet. It’s definitely true love if he’s able to get you of all people to cry.”

“As a rule, I don’t cry.”

“Mhm. And I’m sure if I asked Eddie he’d tell me a different story.”

“No, he’d protect my secrets because he’s a good boyfriend.”

“I think you mean _fiancé_.”

“Oh shit, you’re right. It was less than twenty-four hours ago, I’m still not used to it.”

Joy’s tone softened. “How are you feeling, then? This happened kind of out of the blue for you.”

She exhaled, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. “I honestly never expected to get proposed to. Historically, boys have never really liked me. Frankly, I’m shocked that one liked me at all, let alone wanted to get serious with me. And this is about as serious as serious can be, which scares me when I think about it too much...but I love him, I really do. And I’m really, really happy.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Patricia? Telling me you love him without me even pressuring you. He’s done a real number on you.”

“Well don’t say that to him, his head’s already big enough.”

“Am I wrong?”

“...No. His stupid face makes me happy.”

“As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.” She squealed once more. “I’m just so glad it finally happened.”

Patricia furrowed her brow. “What do you mean ‘finally’?”

“Patricia. You’ve been together for like, six and a half years. You _live_ together. I knew it was going to happen eventually. It might have been unexpected for you, but the rest of us have been anxiously waiting for it to happen.”

That sounded suspicious. “‘The rest of us’?”

There was a pause. “Okay, don’t be mad,” Joy began, already sounding like she was trying to talk herself out of a corner. “But the gang kind of placed bets on when you guys were gonna get engaged.”

“Joy!”

“It was just for a bit of fun! We weren’t going to interfere or say a word to you guys about it. We’re all just rooting for you, we love you guys. We just also…want to prove ourselves better than everyone else.”

Patricia made the executive decision not to get mad about this one and just let it go. “You know what? I’m on too much of a high to care,” she declared. “So who’s the big winner, then?”

“I actually don’t know. I’d have to look at the sheet to see whose guess was closest. I think Fabian has it, I’ll have to ask him.”

“Don’t!” Patricia blurted in a panic, thinking Joy was about to text Fabian and alert him of the engagement, which would spoil the prank.

“Why not?” Joy asked.

“We’re going to make a... _surprise_ announcement in the group chat later. Have a little fun with everyone else. So don’t say anything until they figure it out.”

“I hear you loud and clear. Not a word from me,” Joy assured.

“Good. We have to get our jollies somewhere, you know.”

“I can’t wait to watch their minds get blown. Fabian’s going to be _shocked_.”

“I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t explode. He’ll be mad he didn’t see it right away.”

“And you know Amber’s going to _freak_ out. I hope you’re prepared for that.”

“Oh, lord.”

Joy chuckled. “You’re bringing this upon yourselves. Prepare for the wrath of Amber.”

“Maybe we should just tell no one. Secret engagement. Secret wedding.”

“Oh, don’t be like that. Just let people tell you how excited they are for you! It might seem like a lot to you but it’s just because we love you.”

Patricia harrumphed.

“Okay, let me start,” Joy said. “I just want to say I am so incredibly happy for you. You’re going to be so happy together, and you’re going to make the most beautiful bride.”

Patricia had to admit that did feel nice to hear. “Thanks. And I promise I _will_ actually wear white. I know I’ve sworn up and down I am never wearing white in my life, but I think I can make one exception. No black wedding dress, I promise.”

“Good,” Joy exhaled in relief. “And I am going to be maid of honor, right? I’m going to plan an _insane_ hens night.”

“And rule over the rest of the wedding plans with an iron fist.”

“Obviously. I know who you and Eddie are as people, you’re going to need a lot of help.”

Patricia chuckled. “We’re going to be a disaster couple, aren’t we?”

“Uh, absolutely. You’ve always been a disaster, since the beginning.”

She smiled to herself, reminiscing about the start of their relationship. “Remember way back when, when you told me, ‘It’s a kiss, not a marriage proposal’?”

Joy laughed. “Well I guess it _was_ a marriage proposal in the end. I always knew I was a bit of an oracle.”

“Could you have used your oracle powers to tell me how much of a pain in my ass he’d be?”

“Oh, I didn’t need to be an oracle for that. I could’ve told you that from your very first meeting.”

“Yeah, when I hated him?”

“You only _think_ you hated him,” Joy corrected. “Turns out you actually looooove him.”

Even alone in her own living room, Patricia couldn’t help but blush. She decided she’d hit her limit on mushy talk for the moment. “I’ve got to go now, ‘kay? I can’t talk about all this feelings shit for very long.”

“Yeah, this is a lot for you. But I’m proud of you.”

“And remember: don’t say _anything_.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t, I promise,” Joy said. “Oh, Patricia, we need to meet up really soon, I want to give you a hug in person, I’m so excited for you guys.”

“Soon, I promise. But first, I need some time alone with my new _fiancé_.” She was sure to get the right word this time.

“Uh huh, yeah, _alone time_ , I think we all know what that means. Gonna go have yourself a little ride, cowgirl?”

“Ugh, Joy!”

Joy laughed. “Can’t help myself. Alright, have fun, make sure he gives you the good lovin’.” Patricia rolled her eyes. “I’ll talk to you later, Patricia.”

Patricia hung up and exhaled, feeling like a bit of a weight had been lifted off her chest. One down, a couple more to go. Telling everyone else was probably not going to be easy, but she couldn’t wait to have a little fun messing with their friends.

* * *

Later that night, Patricia and Eddie were sitting together on their couch, the mischievous juices flowing. It was time.

“Okay, you ready to send it?” Eddie asked.

“Yup.”

He snuggled right up against her side and looked over her shoulder. “Let me look, I wanna see all the replies roll in.”

She took one final glance at him. “Alright, here we go.”

They had taken the photo earlier that afternoon. Eddie had taken a selfie of the two of them from the chest up. They were both mockingly sticking their tongues out at each other; Eddie had one hand on her shoulder, and Patricia had both her hands against his chest, like she was trying to push him away. They purposely made sure she didn’t have any other rings on, and they had strategically placed her hands at the bottom of the frame; the ring was clearly visible, but it wasn’t super close to the camera, and it was right at the bottom of the shot, which was not where the eye naturally looked.

Patricia added the caption “loser,” and then she hit send.

It only took a few minutes for the Anubis House group chat to get going.

 _Mara: Aw what a cute pic guys!  
_ _Alfie: I can really feel the love  
_ _Amber: Awww so adorable! You two don’t send us nearly enough pictures, how am I supposed to keep tabs on your beautiful happy selves all the way from a foreign country if you don’t send pictures??  
_ _Nina: Didn’t they send something last week?  
_ _Amber: It’s still not NEARLY enough. I need my fill of romance, Nina  
_ _Fabian: Nina this is why she makes us send her stuff at least once a day  
_ _Amber: I do appreciate all the photos sent just to me. Patricia and Eddie, you should start doing that, too. More cute ones like this please_ 😍  
_Nina: That is pretty cute  
_ _Fabian: She looks like she wants to smack him. That’s true affection, right there  
_ _Jerome: Patricia, what's that on your hand?  
_ _Nina: Her hand??  
_ _Alfie: What do you mean? There’s nothing on her hand, her hands look pretty clean to me  
_ _Jerome: I was thinking more about what she’s WEARING on her hand, Alfie  
_ _Amber: Oooh, what a pretty ring, Patricia!  
_ _Nina: I like the ring  
_ _Mara: Oh, that’s lovely! It suits you  
_ _Jerome: Oh my god come on guys  
_ _Nina: What? Patricia wears rings all the time  
_ _Fabian: Yeah what’s the big deal?  
_ _Jerome: It’s on her LEFT hand  
_ _Alfie: Wait  
_ _Fabian: Hang on  
_ _Amber: OH MY GOD ARE YOU GUYS ENGAGED???????  
_ _Mara: You’re engaged??  
_ _Jerome: Glad to see you guys have finally caught on  
_ _Alfie: A ring on that particular finger HAS to mean engagement, right, Trixie?  
_ _Fabian: Are you guys really engaged?  
_ _Jerome: Well OBVIOUSLY they are engaged, why else would they send that picture of her wearing a fucking engagement ring  
_ _Nina: I’d feel a little better if I heard it from her  
_ _Mara: So is it true?  
_ _Fabian: Yeah this is a big surprise, I don’t want to assume the wrong thing  
_ _Alfie: OR…this could be an elaborate prank  
_ _Mara: Oh that’d be mean :(  
_ _Nina: This is a bit serious to joke about  
_ _Alfie: But it COULD be  
_ _Jerome: Come on, Alfie. Look at the ring  
_ _Amber: That ring is FAR too beautiful to just be a regular ring AND it’s on her left hand it HAS to be true it HAS to be!!!!!!  
_ _Mara: Patricia?  
_ _Fabian: Anything to say about this ring?  
_ _Amber: Patricia?????????????_

Patricia glanced at Eddie. “Should I confirm their suspicions?”

Eddie tapped his chin dramatically, considering. “String ‘em along just a little bit longer.”

Patricia then made her first appearance in the chat since sending the photo.

_Patricia: What ring?_

Eddie laughed out loud on the couch next to her. “Oh man. _Bold_. I love it.”

 _Amber: The one right there on your left hand!!!!!  
_ _Jerome: Oh come on Patricia don’t play dumb  
_ _Nina: It’s the only ring you’re wearing in the picture  
_ _Patricia: Oh THAT ring  
_ _Fabian: So?  
_ _Alfie: And???  
_ _Mara: Are you engaged?  
_ _Patricia: Engaged? Tough to say. I mean he got down on one knee asked me to marry him and gave me the ring I guess_

“Aw, now you’re just being mean to them,” Eddie said in fake sympathy.

Patricia smiled at him. “You were right, this is fun.”

 _Amber: What???????? One knee??????  
_ _Mara: Patricia!!!!  
_ _Jerome: Listen I know you’re just being cheeky and I’m pretty sure we can all figure out the truth, but I think we all want to hear you say it explicitly with your words  
_ _Fabian: Yeah come on  
_ _Alfie: Out with it_

Patricia hesitated. The idea of actually saying it and making it official to so many people at once was suddenly making her nervous.

 _Amber: Come on Patricia don’t leave us in suspense!!!!!!  
_ _Mara: Where’s Eddie? We haven’t heard from him. Maybe he’ll tell us if she doesn’t want to  
_ _Jerome: I know he’s in that room with you Trixie, I know he’s looking. Let him loose. I know where you live, I can come over there and get the truth from you myself  
_ _Mara: Oh Jerome, no need to make threats  
_ _Alfie: No no, he’s got a point. Make threats, I’ll join you  
_ _Mara: No!!  
_ _Nina: Guys be nice  
_ _Nina: But also one of you two please confirm we’re dying over here_

Eddie glanced at Patricia. Given the look on his face, it was pretty clear he could tell she was getting nervous. “Do you want to be the one to say it? Or do you want me to?”

Explicitly talking about her feelings and their relationship business was still something she wasn’t very good at. It had taken her a long time just to open up and talk about her feelings with Eddie; talking about those things with Joy hadn’t been easy, and talking about it with _six_ other people made her want to go jump into the nearest body of water. “You can do it.”

“Alrighty then. Hang on one second.” Eddie pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Bear with me here.” He turned selfie cam on them, held up her left hand so that the ring was prominently visible in shot, then gave her a surprise smooch on the cheek and took a picture. Her face was scrunched up in the resulting photo, but she had to admit it was still pretty cute.

“Aw, I love it. You don’t even look like you hate me that much,” Eddie said, sending the photo off into the group chat.

_Eddie: The rumors are true. She said yes_

“Wow, you didn’t have to say the most cheesy thing of all time,” Patricia said, with just a little bit of judgment in her voice.

Eddie smirked. “Oh, but I think I did. Gotta be cheesy every once in a while, it makes you groan at me.”

That idiot sure did love to push her buttons. “Weasel.”

 _Nina: So you’re engaged?  
_ _Eddie: Yup, we’re engaged!  
_ _Eddie: Shocking, I know  
_ _Alfie: Well it’s about time, mate  
_ _Fabian: I’ll admit, I was starting to have doubts you’d ever do it  
_ _Eddie: Really loving the support here  
_ _Mara: Hey it’s been a long time coming! We’re all excited it finally happened!  
_ _Amber: Oh my god I am just over the MOON!!! I am so so so so so happy for you guys!!!!! It’s soooo romantic, and you can’t see me right now but I’m crying just a little. Or maybe a lot. You guys are going to be so so happy together and I’m so excited for you!!!_ ❤️❤️❤️  
_Amber: Fabian and Nina, I expect you two to be next!  
_ _Fabian: ha ha  
_ _Nina: Amber this is not about us  
_ _Amber: Yes yes, sorry. Congratulations Patricia and Eddie!!!!!  
_ _Mara: Congratulations!!  
_ _Alfie: You made it, guys. Congrats  
_ _Nina: Congrats, guys!  
_ _Jerome: Eddie, you now have to live with Patricia forever. Good luck. And congrats  
_ _Alfie: Are you TRYING to get yourself uninvited from the wedding?  
_ _Jerome: If Trixie truly hated me she would have cut me out of her life years ago  
_ _Alfie: Fair  
_ _Fabian: Don’t listen to these jokers. Congratulations, guys, we’re really happy for you  
_ _Eddie: Thanks guys_

“Okay, you’re gonna hate me,” Eddie said, turning to Patricia.

“Hate you for what?”

“For filming you.” He pointed his phone at her, clicking the record button. “Tell them how much you love me.”

“Just enough not to kill you,” she said sarcastically. “Now stop sending my face to the chat.”

She lunged for his phone, which led to a little wrestling match. She was able to stop the filming on the initial lunge, but she couldn’t get the phone away from him. He held the phone out of her reach with one hand and fended her off with the other, and after a few moments of frustration, she gave up.

“You suck.”

He flashed a smile at her. “I can’t help it; just wanna capture your beautiful face.”

“You’re right, I do hate you a little bit.”

In reconciliation, he kissed her, sweetly. She was about ready to forgive him, but then she heard the unmistakable _whoosh_ of a message being sent to the chat. One look into his eyes told her it was definitely the video.

“Oh, you wanker.”

He had an incredibly smug look on his face. “Had to, babe. Have to please the masses.”

 _Eddie: She’s ecstatic  
_ _Amber: Awwwwwwwww cute!!!!  
_ _Alfie: That’s true love, right there  
_ _Fabian: It really is amazing how she hasn’t killed you yet  
_ _Amber: That’s because it’s TRUE LOVE, Fabian!!!  
_ _Joy: It would have to be true love to put up with Eddie 24/7  
_ _Eddie: Wow thanks  
_ _Mara: Joy, you’ve been pretty quiet this whole time  
_ _Joy: Oh, I already knew. I was just waiting to see how long it would take for you guys to figure it out  
_ _Alfie: They already told you??  
_ _Joy: Maid of honor privileges  
_ _Jerome: Damn I can’t believe you already snatched up maid of honor, I really thought I had a good shot  
_ _Joy: Buck up, champ, there’s always next time  
_ _Jerome: Pencil me in, Nina: your maid of honor  
_ _Nina: Very funny, Jerome  
_ _Jerome: Tick tock, Fabian  
_ _Alfie: Yeah, when are we getting our next proposal news?  
_ _Fabian: You’re fucking hilarious  
_ _Amber: SPEAKING OF...Patricia how was the proposal?? I bet it was sooo romantic  
_ _Nina: Amber don’t get nosy  
_ _Amber: You’re right. She can tell us girls later  
_ _Joy: She can tell you about how she cried  
_ _Amber: She did???_

“I’m going to kill Joy,” Patricia seethed.

 _Mara: Aw that’s a little sweet, actually  
_ _Jerome: Would not have bet that she cried  
_ _Alfie: Oh wait who won THE bet???  
_ _Amber: Oh right the bet!!!!!  
_ _Fabian: Let me check  
_ _Jerome: I think it was me. I think this was around the time I guessed  
_ _Fabian: What did we decide was the tiebreaker again?  
_ _Joy: The later guess as opposed to the earlier guess  
_ _Fabian: Okay, then Mara wins  
_ _Mara: Me? Oh, yay!  
_ _Jerome: What??  
_ _Jerome: Fabian, you mentioned tiebreaker, which means someone else was close. Can you go through all the guesses again?  
_ _Fabian: Uh, sure  
_ _Fabian: As you know, we officially made this bet at the end of the second year of university, which was three and a half years ago. We all bet how long it would take from that date for a proposal to happen. Amber bet three months. Very wrong. Alfie bet six months. Also wrong. Nina bet one year, Joy bet two years, and I, a big idiot, bet six years. Now, Jerome bet three years and Mara bet four years, and as it is exactly the midway point between the two, Mara made the later guess, so Mara wins  
_ _Jerome: FUCK_

Eddie: “Damn, how much do you think they bet?”

 _Mara: Looks like I’m the big winner this time, Jerome  
__Jerome: Pure luck, Jaffray. Pure luck. If Eddie had gotten the balls to ask even one week earlier then I’m pretty sure the winnings would have gone to me  
__Mara: Sounds like you’re just a sore loser  
__Jerome: Me? Never. I’m just simply stating the facts  
__Eddie: Plot twist Jerome the timing was an extremely calculated move just to make you lose  
__Jerome: Don’t even joke, Miller, you don’t know how much money you just lost me  
__Mara: And how much you won for me :)  
__Jerome: Alright, no need to gloat  
__Mara: I think I will, just a little bit. I never get the big wins like this  
__Mara: How does it feel to come so close and still be denied the win?  
__Jerome: I’m distraught  
__Mara: Aw, don’t be mad, there’s always next time!  
__Jerome: You know I can’t stay mad at you, Jaffray. But the next time we’re all up in your area, you’re buying dinner  
__Mara: Sounds fair to me  
__Amber: So Mara got the proposal question right. But the REAL question is - when’s the wedding??  
__Eddie: Uh not soon lol  
__Amber: Aw why not?  
__Eddie: Have you ever heard of this thing called “planning”?  
__Amber: Yes I have Eddie no need to get smart with me. I’m just excited!_ _I just love weddings. They’re so grand and romantic and full of love  
__Alfie: No way the Miller-Williamson wedding is going to be grand and traditional. I bet she won’t even wear a white dress  
__Jerome: Black wedding dress d’you think?  
__Alfie: That sounds more like Trixie  
__Fabian: I wouldn’t put it past her  
__Joy: She did tell me she was going to wear a white dress. And I’m going to hold her to that promise  
__Jerome: There is definitely still going to be black somewhere, though  
__Amber: Oh Patricia please don’t have black as your wedding color it’s far too gloomy and I don’t want to wear black it’s not a funeral  
__Nina: Hey she can choose whatever color she wants  
__Amber: Nina do you want to wear dreary black to a wedding?  
__Nina: I mean  
__Nina: Not really  
__Nina: But you’re not in charge of making those decisions!  
__Amber: I should be  
__Fabian: That’s a slippery slope  
__Nina: But hey, Patricia and Eddie, if there’s anything you guys need we are happy to help!  
__Joy: Oh they’re definitely going to need a lot of help  
__Mara: I’m always happy to lend a hand!  
__Amber: Please ask me if you guys need any suggestions, I have a lot of opinions  
__Jerome: Do you need an officiant? I’m ordained  
__Fabian: What?? How?? Why???  
__Jerome: I am a man of many talents and skills  
__Eddie: Listen. There are currently zero plans. We’ll update you when plans exist  
__Mara: Well, no matter when and where it is, we’re all really excited for you guys! And we can’t wait to celebrate with you  
__Jerome: Hey, why don’t we get together soon for a celebratory dinner with the local crew? It’ll be on us  
__Alfie: Did you just volunteer the three of us to pay?  
__Eddie: Great, I’ll be having the most expensive thing on the menu  
__Alfie: I didn’t agree to this  
__Joy: Alfie when he says “us” he really means just him, he just doesn’t know it yet  
__Alfie: Ah I gotchu. In that case, I love this plan!  
__Jerome: Hey you two, we are celebrating our friends and congratulating them on their upcoming nuptials and lifelong happiness, don’t act like cheapskates  
__Joy: Cause you’ve NEVER acted like a cheapskate  
__Jerome: No, I just like money  
__Joy: Well you better be willing to spend that money on a nice dinner and an expensive wedding present for the happy couple_

Eddie looked at Patricia. “Well, a dinner sounds nice.”

“That it does.”

A little smile tugged at the corner of his lip. “I think I’m done talking with them for now, are you?”

“I think so too,” she agreed.

“Let’s leave while we still have the promise of a free dinner and maybe Jerome feels guilted into buying us something nice.”

 _Eddie: This has been great, guys, thanks for the well wishes, but we are clocking out for the evening. Please submit all wedding-related questions by written letter, and we will get to them when we feel like it. Letters with bad handwriting will not be accepted. Peace out  
_ _Amber: But I have so many questions!!_  
_Alfie: Can I send you a one where the letters are cut out of magazines like a serial killer  
Amber: Patricia you better call me later and tell me EVERYTHING!!!_

The messages continued to come in the group chat, but Eddie shut off his phone and tossed it onto the armchair next to them. He leaned back and rested his head on the back of the couch, taking a deep breath.

“I think that went well,” he said.

“About as well as could be expected.”

Eddie turned his head towards Patricia, a baffled expression on his face. “ _Jerry_ was the one who figured it out?”

“I kind of expected it would be him, to be honest. Jerome’s very sharp.”

Eddie closed his eyes and groaned, as if suddenly remembering something he forgot. “Aw, man, we should’ve placed bets!” He shook his head. “We need to step up our game.”

“Well who’d you have bet it was gonna be?”

“Amber,” he admitted. “She always seems to be on top of these sorts of things.”

“Well, she was certainly excited.”

He let out a laugh. “I fear how she’s going to act when the day actually comes.”

“How do you feel knowing we made Amber cry?”

“Bad,” he said. “ _But_ , knowing we made Jerome lose a bunch of money makes me feel _excellent_.”

“It is always nice seeing Jerome get knocked down a few pegs.”

Eddie looked at her, tenderness and a hint of concern on his face. “How do _you_ feel?” he asked, his tone softening.

She found that she actually felt good after telling people. Usually, she liked to keep her business close to her vest, but sharing happiness and seeing others happy for them was surprisingly nice. “Good, actually. Surprisingly, not feeling very anxious.”

“That’s good.”

Patricia was suddenly struck by a desire to get more of this done now. “Actually, I think we should tell more people.”

“Really?” Eddie asked, bewildered. “You seem surprisingly motivated.”

“I do occasionally have my moments.” She thought through all the people that probably should be told firsthand. “Who else is there? Okay, now we have to tell my sister, _my_ parents, both of _your_ parents…”

She swore she saw a sudden flash of nervousness or even panic in his eyes, but it quickly vanished. He inched closer to her. “Do we have to?” He brushed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Can’t we wait until tomorrow to do that?” He leaned in to kiss her neck, right on the spot that he knew got her the most aroused.

Him trying to avoid the subject like that was weird, but she was suddenly too distracted by the kissing to care. “Okay.”

She gave in to the warm feeling of pleasure, sliding down onto her back and letting him get on top of her. And as he kissed her neck, lips, and more sensitive areas, all thoughts about anything else very quickly left her brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole Eddie sleeping with his arm hanging over the side of the bed thing is a personal headcanon I made up because I thought it was funny.
> 
> Next chapter hopefully up soon!


	3. Breaking the News, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! This chapter takes place the next day following the previous chapter. It might be a little bit until the next one, I haven't made as much progress on it as I'd like. But it will be coming in the near future!
> 
> Also like, a warning for sex talk in this chapter I guess.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy! Please leave a review if you do, I love to hear what you think.

Patricia woke up the next morning earlier than she wanted to. In their room, it was gray and quiet, save for the sound of Eddie’s deep breathing. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she looked at him lying next to her, his arm hanging off the side of the bed and his face smushed into the pillow. She had to resist the incredibly strong urge to play with his hair; he would be cranky if she woke him up, and he really did look adorable and peaceful when he was asleep. It was one of the only times he actually stayed quiet.

Usually on a weekend if she got up earlier than she liked, she would attempt to go back to sleep, either until she wasn’t groggy anymore, or until Eddie woke up and started making a fuss; waking up was a noisy process for him. But today, she was wide awake, and she felt like she had a drive and a purpose. She just felt in her bones that she needed to call her sister, as soon as possible. She’d wanted to do it last night, but she’d gotten...distracted. So she was going to do it now, regardless of the time; she felt pretty confident that Piper would be awake.

Quietly, Patricia slipped out of bed, snatched her phone from the nightstand, and tiptoed out of the room, careful not to wake Eddie up. She made her way out to the kitchen and settled into a chair at the kitchen table. Without hesitation, she brought up Piper’s contact and called.

Piper didn’t even say hello when she picked up. “I knew I’d be getting a call soon. Something happened, I can feel it. My only question is is it good or bad?”

“Uh, hello to you, too,” Patricia said, incredibly confused. “ _My_ question — What in the hell are you talking about?”

Piper sighed. “It’s the twin thing, Patricia, I could just feel something was up with you, since two nights ago I think. So is it good or bad?”

Piper had always been more in tune with the “twin thing” than Patricia had been. Piper seemed to “sense” things all the time while Patricia had never once had such a feeling. Well, guess that meant there was no reason to beat around the bush. “Good.”

“Oh, good! I thought so. At least, I hoped so. So what happened?”

“I’m getting married.”

“Oh! Well that certainly _is_ good news!” Piper exclaimed, sounding delighted. “So that boyfriend of yours finally built up the nerve to pop the question?”

“No, it was someone else,” Patricia said sarcastically.

“Oh, Patricia, no need to get sassy with me. This is so exciting! You’re going to be married.”

Patricia smiled to herself. “Yeah, I am.”

“Do mum and dad know?”

“I’m calling them later today.”

“Mum is going to flip her lid. She might even cry.”

Patricia suddenly started to get anxious. “Not in a bad way, you think?”

“No, no, of course not. I remember last Christmas, they love him. Mum thinks he’s adorable. I like him, too. He’s an idiot, but I like him well enough.”

“Hey, that’s _my_ idiot you’re talking about.”

“Sorry, sorry, _your_ idiot, of course. But still an idiot.” Well, Patricia couldn’t deny that. “I’m really happy for you, Patricia. He’s real good for you. I think this is going to make you so happy.”

“Thanks,” Patricia said. “Now, we don’t know when it’s gonna be, it won’t be for a while, but I obviously want you to be there. You think you can take a couple days off from your fancy orchestra in London to come to a wedding?”

“For my twin sister, absolutely.”

“Excellent! And, I can _guarantee_ there is _no_ chance anyone will be confusing us on that day.”

“You in a white wedding dress. Is the world ending?”

“Ha-ha. Just you watch out, I’m gonna look _ravishing_ in that white dress. And you better enjoy it, because you will never see me in white ever again.”

“Good thing there will be all those pictures; if there’s no photographic evidence of you in white I wouldn’t believe it happened.”

“If you keep talking I’ll ban cameras at my wedding and there _won’t_ be photographic evidence.”

“Sorry, sorry, I’ll zip it,” Piper backed off. “Hey, I’ve got to go, alright? Rehearsal this morning. But send me a photo of the ring, I want to see it.”

“You’d hate it.”

“I thought as much,” she said. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Have a fun time with your new _fiancé_ , if you know what I mean. He looks like he’s got nice hands, I hope he knows how to use them.”

Patricia felt herself turn beet red. “ _Bye_ , Piper!”

Patricia hung up the phone before Piper had a chance to make another dirty comment. She tried to cool herself down. It was far too early in the morning for her to be getting this flustered. She went and got a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer and held it to her face. She needed to get rid of her blush. Patricia took the peas back to the table and sat down. She didn’t know if the blush was going away, but the cold against her cheeks felt like such a relief.

Patricia heard the bedroom door open, and she dropped the peas to the table. Maybe he would be so groggy he would ignore them. Eddie’s loud footsteps made their way into the kitchen, and he hugged her from behind, kissing the top of her head.

“What are you doing up?” he asked, his voice still laced with sleep.

“Calling my sister.”

“This early?”

“It’s almost nine.”

“Yeah, on Sunday,” Eddie said like it was obvious. “This is early for Sunday.”

Patricia rolled her eyes. That idiot hated being up early more than almost anything on this planet. Had her phone call been too loud? Had she woken him up? He usually wasn’t up before nine-thirty on a weekend if he could help it.

She looked up at him. “Did I wake you up? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“Nah, you’re good.” He sat down in the chair next to her. “What’s with the peas?”

“Oh! Uh,” she quickly racked her brain for a coverup, because she was _not_ telling him the real reason. “Breakfast! It’s breakfast.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Peas for breakfast?”

“It’s an English tradition. Real old-fashioned, high-class. You wouldn’t know about it, you Yankee. They don’t have sophisticated breakfasts like this in America.”

He had an extremely skeptical expression on his face. “Uh huh, sure. We’ve been together what, six or seven years, and this is the first I’m hearing of the peas for breakfast custom?”

“Yeah. It’s not an everyday type of tradition, more of a special occasion type of thing,” she said with complete conviction.

Eddie could tell she was obviously making stuff up, and she knew it. A little smile tugged on his lips. “I’m not gonna make you tell me the real reason for the peas, but I _am_ gonna make you actually eat peas for breakfast now.”

She groaned. She could have admitted she made it up, but she was stubborn as a mule. This was her bed, and she had to lie in it.

He made a motion to get up — possibly to start making the peas — but she gently grabbed his hand. “Hey, hang on a sec.” He settled back into his chair, and she took both of his hands in hers. She looked into his eyes, letting him know she wanted to discuss something serious.

“I’ve been thinking. We should both call our parents this morning. It needs to be done. I’ll call my parents, and you call both your parents, okay?”

He looked incredibly hesitant, and for a moment it looked like he might put up a protest, but, reluctantly, he agreed. “Okay.” Then a mischievous grin took over his face. “But you’re eating these peas right now, Yacker.”

He grabbed the peas and got to his feet, and all she could do was groan.

They got around to making the calls a couple hours later. Eddie had said that he wanted to go outside to make his calls; get some fresh air while he did it. He said he was going to take a walk, maybe sit down on a bench in the grassy area a block or two away. Patricia suspected he just wanted to be alone for these calls, which she understood. She would’ve left the place herself if he hadn’t volunteered; her feelings about him listening while she talked about him with other people still remained.

The call with her parents went fairly quickly. Her parents, while surprised, were overjoyed. Her mum, as Piper had predicted, did indeed cry, and her dad said he needed to have a “man to man” chat with Eddie, which just made Patricia roll her eyes and tell her dad to be nice. But they congratulated her; they said they were happy for her and couldn’t wait to see the two of them and congratulate them in person.

She finished her call, but it took another thirty minutes after that for Eddie to come back. When he finally returned, he walked through the front door, his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. Then he chucked his keys and wallet onto the nearest table, which were quickly followed by his jacket, thrown like a basketball.

“You were gone for a while,” Patricia said.

He stood there and shrugged. “Yeah, well, you know. Chatty.” Something didn’t seem quite right. His mood felt off; he didn’t have his usual vigor. It was like he’d closed himself off.

Patricia pressed on, seeing if he’d reveal what was up. “How’d your mum take it?”

“Oh, she’s absolutely ecstatic. You know she loves you. She’s very excited; if it were up to her, the wedding would be tomorrow.”

“How about your dad?”

He scratched behind his ear. “I…have not actually called him yet.”

“What? Why not?”

Eddie grimaced. “Because...I...don’t want to?”

Clearly this was the thing bothering him. She gave him a pointed look. “Eddie.”

“Look, I know I have to, but that is going to be _very_ difficult for me, and every time I think about actually doing it I start getting incredibly anxious. I spent so much time out there just sitting there trying to build up the nerve and just fucking do it, but...I couldn’t.” He took a deep breath, running a nervous hand down his face. “Will you sit with me? While I do this?”

She felt like a horrible person. Why didn’t she recognize it before? All the panic and hesitation in his eyes, all the attempts to put it off. Right now he looked so vulnerable, his expression heavy. Of course he was nervous to tell his dad; their history wasn’t exactly sunshine and roses. He was probably going through a whirlwind of emotions right now, and she felt shitty for not quite seeing it and continuing to push. It had taken a lot just for him to ask that of her, and she felt the fierce desire to be there for him; she owed it to him. “Yeah, of course I will. Come here, we can call him now.”

“Woah, hey, we don’t have to do it _now_ now.” He threw his hands up, backing off. “We can put it off a little bit. Let’s do literally anything else.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Like what?”

Eddie arched an eyebrow, his demeanor turning suggestive. “I mean, I’ve got a couple ideas.”

Patricia was struck with a sudden realization. “Did you try to distract me with sex last night so you could put off calling your dad?” she accused.

He smirked. “It worked, didn’t it?”

She made a face at him.

“Hey, I’ll eat you out again if it means I can put this off for a little longer.”

Patricia felt herself blush profusely. “No! Eddie, call him. Now.”

She motioned for him to come and sit down. He took the spot right beside her, anxiously wringing his hands. She gently rubbed his back, hoping to comfort him. Softly, she said, “Hey, it’s gonna be alright. I’m right here. Just call him.”

He nodded. She offered her hand, and he took it, lacing their fingers together.

Eddie’s relationship with his dad had smoothed out over the years, but it was still rocky from time to time. Patricia imagined that telling him something of this magnitude would not be easy at all, especially considering how long he’d been out of Eddie’s life and how many big moments he’d missed.

Eddie took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Then he placed his phone on the table in front of them, put it on speakerphone, and called. His leg was bouncing up and down and his free hand was fidgeting the entire time the phone rang. 

After a few rings, Mr. Sweet’s voice trilled out from the other end of the line. “Edison! Well, this is a pleasant surprise.”

“Hey, uh, Dad!” Eddie nervously scratched at the back of his neck.

“It certainly is nice to hear from you. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I have big news.”

“Oh? Sounds serious. What’s the news?”

Eddie closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “I’m getting married.”

There was silence for a moment, and Eddie squeezed her hand real hard, not letting up in the long, agonizing seconds before Mr. Sweet responded. “Pardon me? Did you just say you’re getting married?”

“Yup,” Eddie confirmed. “I asked Patricia to marry me, and she, for whatever reason, said yes.”

Patricia could tell from the tone of his voice that Mr. Sweet was pretty shocked. “Well. That certainly is big news. I have to say, I’m a little surprised.”

Eddie’s face started to fall. “You don’t sound too thrilled.”

“I assure you that is not the case. You’re just so young. I didn’t even realize that was on your mind.”

“Yeah. Well. Surprise! It has been on my mind for a very long time.”

Patricia’s heart skipped a beat hearing him say that. A very long time? Really? He’d been wanting to marry her for that long? She felt a new wave of affection rise up in her chest, and she gave his hand a quick squeeze.

“Why didn’t you tell me? That’s something I might have wanted to know,” Mr. Sweet said. “I could have, you know, offered guidance or support.”

“Dad, I didn’t tell _anyone_ I was going to do this.”

“No one? Not your mother? Not even your friends?”

“Nope,” Eddie said. “Look, I didn’t know _when_ or _how_ I was gonna do it, I wasn’t gonna tell anyone else and put extra pressure on myself, it’s already nerve-wracking enough.”

“Are you sure that was the right way to go about things? If my recollection is correct, you’re supposed to ask the father for his blessing.”

Patricia rolled her eyes. What an antiquated way of thinking. She probably would’ve been disappointed if he’d asked her dad before asking her.

“Her parents love me. And I’m not marrying her dad, I’m marrying _her_.”

“I am just saying, it doesn’t seem proper.”

Patricia scoffed in disgust, louder than she meant to.

“Did you just scoff at me, Edison?”

Eddie’s eyes widened in slight panic. “No no, I—”

“Oh, he didn’t need to ask my dad, my dad’s cool with it!” Patricia interrupted, deciding she’d had enough of staying quiet. She needed to rescue Eddie from this awkward and confrontational conversation.

Mr. Sweet paused. “Am I on speakerphone?”

Patrica began purposely overacting and talking in an exaggerated, sickly sweet voice. “Hi, Mr. Sweet, it’s me, your son’s fiancée, I know talking to me is just your favorite; how you doing this fine day?”

Patricia had caught Mr. Sweet off guard. He stuttered a little bit. “Oh, well, erm, I am doing well, thank you. It’s always nice to hear from you, Patricia. And how are you doing?”

She dropped the nice act. “Peachy. Now, lay off of Eddie. He’s fine.”

Eddie looked at her with a bit of a pleasantly bewildered expression on his face, like he was surprised to hear her say that, but incredibly delighted by it. She could all but see hearts circling his head.

Mr. Sweet seemed jarred at her bluntness. “I did not mean to accuse. I just worry about it not being the proper way to do things.”

“The two of us have never been ‘proper’ in our lives,” Patricia retaliated. “I’m not too concerned with adhering to tradition, especially antiquated traditions.”

“Well—”

She interrupted before he had the chance to go down another patriarchal train of thought. “Respectfully, sir, I’m not gonna let my dad and his permission dictate who I can and can’t marry. My dad trusts my judgment.” She paused. “Mostly.”

“I just don’t want his actions to disrespect you or your family. And I want you both to be absolutely sure this is the right thing to do and that this is what you want. It’s a serious decision.”

Patricia could see Eddie starting to get frustrated and upset. His lips were pressed into a strained, thin line, and his free hand was clenched in his hair so tightly that she was afraid he might rip it all out. It was time to bring out the big guns. Her anxiety about discussing Eddie-related feelings with others while he was listening got completely pushed to the side when his dad was on his ass like this.

She barged back in with authority. She had to make sure her words stuck. “Sir, I love Eddie, and I don’t say that word lightly.” She was staring down at the phone, but she could feel Eddie looking at her. “I wouldn’t keep him around if I didn’t trust him and care about him deeply. He’s done everything right, and, frankly, I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I’d marry him by ourselves in a dumpster if it came to that. He means so much to me, and I will not be letting go of him. Sorry to disappoint.”

In the moment of silence that followed, she looked up at Eddie, and he was gazing at her with possibly the most fond and tender look she’d ever seen on him. It kind of also looked like he was tearing up. He leaned in and delicately planted a kiss on her forehead, and she could feel every ounce of raw emotion behind it.

Mr. Sweet’s voice broke the silence. “I have to say, I’m impressed by this young lady coming so passionately to your defense, Edison.”

“I know, she’s pretty great,” Eddie said, looking directly at her. “She’s no lady, though.”

“Well, perhaps not.” There was a pause. “Is this truly what you want, Edison?”

He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, and, looking her right in the eye, he said, “I have never wanted anything more in my life.”

“Well then, I offer my most sincere congratulations, this is wonderful.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Eddie said. “And, you know, we don’t know when it’s going to be yet, but obviously we want you there, so like save the date, or whatever it is they say.”

For a moment, there was a tense silence. And then Mr. Sweet started talking gibberish and making some nonsensical noises. If Patricia was hearing correctly, it kind of sounded like he was blubbering.

Eddie furrowed his brow in concern. “Are you okay?”

Mr. Sweet sniffed and cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m fine.” He sighed wistfully. “My son, getting married. After we lost touch, I was afraid I might never be able to get to see this day. I’m just...so delighted. All I want is for you to be happy.”

A wave of emotion swept across Eddie’s face. “Thanks.”

“Patricia, I look forward to welcoming you to the family.”

“Can’t wait,” Patricia said. “I always wanted to marry into the principal’s family.”

“It has been a long time since I’ve been your principal, dear.” This was true; by this point, he’d been just ‘Eddie’s dad’ to her almost as long as he’d been her principal. “You may call me Eric, if you like.”

The idea of calling her former principal by his first name seemed so preposterous, it was almost laughable. “That might take some getting used to.”

“Yes, I suppose that might be weird,” Mr. Sweet chuckled. “Well, don’t let me keep you for any longer. I’m sure you both have more exciting things to do. Enjoy your engagement, and please do keep me updated on any details about this wedding, which I sincerely hope will not actually be in a dumpster.”

“But I’ve already got the perfect dumpster picked out,” Patricia protested.

“She’s joking,” Eddie assured. “Thanks, Dad, we’ll talk to you later.”

After they hung up, Eddie tackled her in a hug, knocking her onto her back. The wind got knocked out of her as her head landed on the couch cushion. He held her tight around her torso, and she wrapped her arms around him in kind.

“Thanks for having my back,” he said.

“That’s the whole point of this, isn’t it?” she whispered. “I’ll always have your back.”

In response, Eddie buried his face against her chest, which surprised her, but she found it was actually quite pleasant. She wasn’t sure what had come over him, but it was nice to just lie here in an intimate embrace and hold him for a moment; his weight on her felt warm and comforting. It was only when she heard a sniffle that she realized exactly how emotional he was getting. Her heart bleeding, she placed her hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair and gently caressing him. She was hoping it would bring him at least a little bit of comfort. He squeezed her tighter, like he never wanted to let her go.

“I love you,” he said, his voice muffled against her chest.

“You’re alright I guess.”

Eddie let out a laugh, turning his head to look at her. His eyes were misty, and he had a fond little smile on his face. “It’s you and me, forever. You ready for that?”

“As long as you don’t act like a doofus the whole time.”

“Oof, well I got some bad news for you there.”

“Hmm. Well, I guess I can let it slide; since you’re so cute.”

“Thank god for my good looks.”

“Okay, don’t let your head get too big.”

“Too late,” he chuckled. Then it was silent for a moment; a comfortable silence. Patricia thought it would stay that way for a while, but then Eddie’s voice piped up again, barely above a whisper. “Can we just stay here for a bit?”

She looked at his face, which was mere inches away, and a smile spread across her own lips. “I don’t have anywhere else to be,” she whispered right back.

He beamed at her. “Fantastic.” Eddie turned his face away from hers, finding the perfect spot and settling in. He exhaled deeply. Patricia could feel his rhythmic breathing, the rising and falling of his chest against hers. She kept one hand on his head, the other one continuing to hold him. She could fall asleep like this, she thought. This felt calm, peaceful, and right where she wanted to be.

However, this meant she was able to catch the subtle change in his breathing. It wasn’t much, but she could still feel it; his breaths became shorter and more irregular, and even a little shaky at times. She had a suspicion about what was happening, which was confirmed by the sniffling that followed. If she was right about how he was feeling, she needed to do something to try and remedy it.

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?” he asked through a considerable amount of sniffling.

“Look at me.”

“No thanks.”

“Eddie.”

He turned his head to look at her, his face watery. A tender sense of protectiveness came over her. “Oh, Eddie.” She wiped at his cheek with her thumb. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine. Totally fine.”

“Eddie.”

She wiped his face again, more gently this time, and the hint of a wry smile tugged at him. “Fuck,” he breathed.

“What, you think I’m gonna judge you or something?”

“No.” He sighed. “I think I’ve experienced every possible emotion in the last twenty minutes.”

“If that’s the case I’m surprised you’re not even more teary.”

“It’s all been a lot to process. Keeping it together has not been the world’s easiest task.”

“You’re okay here. You can trust me.”

“I know,” he said, his eyes glistening as he looked at her. “Did you really mean what you said? You’d marry me in a dumpster?”

“Yeah. But just because I _would_ doesn’t mean I want to, so don’t be getting any ideas.”

“Don’t hate on the dumpster wedding, it would require a lot less planning.”

“There’s no reception food at a dumpster wedding.”

“Alright, I’ll shut up.”

“That’s a first.”

Eddie chuckled, a rumble from deep in his throat. “I feel so, incredibly lucky to have you.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “And I cannot wait to marry you.”

Patricia felt a sharp surge of emotion, and suddenly she had to try real hard not to get too blubbery herself. “Shut up, dingus.” Now she was the one who squeezed him tighter, throwing her arms around his back and wrapping one of her legs around him.

“Holding me hostage?” Eddie asked.

“Yup. You’re not going anywhere.”

“No escape for me?”

“Never. I won’t let you.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that.”

And she would keep her word. Now she was the one who buried her face in his shoulder, breathing in his comforting scent as they held each other. There was no place in the world safer than this spot right here. She held onto him tight, and she was never letting him go.


	4. Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all; I didn't mean to take so long to update with the next chapter, but they ended up getting longer and longer than I'd anticipated, therefore it took longer to get ready.
> 
> A couple updates: because it's gotten so long, I'm splitting the remaining story into even more chapters, and as of right now, there will be 7 total chapters. I am also upping the rating to M due to increased sexual content in the latter chapters; they are adults in this story, you know.
> 
> Also, this chapter is meant to make significant jumps in time.

“Okay, weasel, you know what time it is.”

He was sitting on the couch, and she plopped down next to him, her back against the arm of the couch and her legs lying across his lap. In her hand she clutched a notepad that had “wedding plans” scrawled across the top of the page.

“You know, I was thinking, maybe we could, like, not do that,” Eddie said. “Planning sucks.”

Patricia thrust the ring in front of his face. “You brought this upon yourself.”

“Fair enough.”

“You are one half of his partnership, you get to participate.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and exhaled, resigning himself to his fate. Patricia didn’t like that reaction so much. This was _his_ wedding, too, she’d like a little enthusiasm.

“Hey, just work with me, okay? You knew this was going to be tedious and a lot of work, and I don’t particularly want to do it, either. So just suck it up and don’t fight with me, okay?”

Eddie took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Trust me, I’m not trying to plan anything ridiculous. We’re meant to actually have a good time and enjoy ourselves, you know.”

“Like a big party.”

Patricia smiled. “Well, that _is_ what this is.”

“Any party with you is one I would love to be at,” he said, looking to have regained his spirits. “Alright, let’s go, lay it on me.”

“Okay, first thing’s first, and this is possibly the most important thing to figure out,” Patricia began. “I know you still miss New York and it’s important to you. So, the question is, do we want to have it here or _across the pond_ , as you say?”

“Firstly, I have never once said ‘across the pond’ in my life. And to answer your question: considering the fact that one, _we_ live here, two, most of our friends live here, and three, three-quarters of our parents live here, I’m thinking we should have it here,” Eddie said, counting each one out on his fingers.

“Will your mum be okay, coming over here? Will she be able to make it?”

“We’ll make it happen,” Eddie said confidently. Patricia knew he’d be determined to move heaven and earth if he must to get his mother to the wedding.

“D’you think Fabian and Nina will be able to make it over here, then?”

“Uh, they better, he’s gonna be the best man.”

Patricia raised an eyebrow, amused. “You trust Fabian with all the best man responsibilities?”

“Unlike Jerome and Alfie, I trust him not to kill me,” Eddie said. “Also, he would do a much better best man speech than either of those two jokers, despite how much he would hate it.”

“If you want nice words, he’s definitely your man.”

“Speaking of best man, do we need to discuss wedding party? Like, bridesmaids and such? That might be important to decide early.”

“Yes, that would kind of be very important to discuss.”

Eddie gestured to her. “Ladies first.”

“Well, Joy is maid of honor, obviously. She already claimed the job before I could even give it to her,” Patricia said. “And the rest of the bridesmaids: my sister, Nina, Amber, and Mara.”

“That was pretty quick. You been thinking about this for a while?”

“It’s an easy answer, I know who my friends are. And yes, I have,” she said. “Now, groomsmen: go.”

“Do we have to have the same number?”

She shrugged. “I dunno.”

“I’m gonna go with yes just for convenience’s sake. Don’t want to leave anyone without a partner.” He considered for a moment. “Okay so Fabian’s best man, and then Alfie and Jerome...oh, and then Ryan and Derek.” Eddie had been playing in a rec rugby league for the past few years, and he’d become friends with some of his teammates, particularly those two guys, with whom he’d become really tight.

“Alright, sounds good to me. Have fun seeing how those two mesh with the three nerds.”

“It’ll certainly be interesting.”

Patricia made some notes on the notepad. “Okay, rest of the invite list. I’m not expecting to put together a complete list right now, but I want to get some definite names now. Besides our parents, of course.”

“You first,” Eddie deferred.

“Okay, so, definitely Mick,” Patricia started. “You liked Mick, if I remember correctly.”

“Hell yeah I did,” Eddie confirmed. “My meetings with him have been few and far between. I wish we had the chance to hang out more, he’s so cool.”

“Well, that’s what happens when you’re a sports trainer traveling with teams all around the world,” Patricia said. “So, definitely putting Mick on the list. We did live in the same house for a long time, and he’s always fun at a party.”

“We’re gonna become best friends at the wedding,” Eddie said in a wistful voice.

“Sure, champ, whatever you say.”

She listed off a couple more family members that should be invited, along with a few other friends. Then she turned to him. “Now who’s on your list?”

“Okay, well for sure my friend KT back in New York. You remember her, right?”

They’d met up with KT one of the times they’d gone to the States. That had been Patricia’s introduction to Eddie’s friend, and, after meeting her, Patricia had been worried for a little bit that KT maybe had a thing for Eddie. Eddie had once left the two of them by themselves for a few hours, and Patricia had yelled at the other girl about the subject in a fit of jealousy, but then KT revealed to Patricia that she was very, extremely gay, and that quashed Patricia’s worries. They’d met up with her a couple more times since then, she was pretty nice.

“Yeah, of course I remember her. She’s told me a lot of embarrassing stories from your youth. I think the fishing incident is my favorite.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Of course she did.” Then he furrowed his brow in thought. “Hm, wait, are you allowed to have a girl be a groomsman if she’s definitely on the groom’s team?”

“I dunno. What do I look like, a wedding connoisseur?”

Eddie considered for a moment. “Well, maybe I could…” He shook his head. “Nah, I can’t ask another person to cross the Atlantic to be in the wedding party. If she's able to make it at all, that’ll be good enough for me.”

Eddie then listed off some more names, making snarky comments about every one of his family members that he didn’t like. Then it was a couple more friends and the rest of the rugby team, which were all he could think of for the moment.

Patricia tapped her pen on the pad. “Okay, now, anyone else?” She felt a switch flip as a name popped into her mind. “Oh! Trudy.”

Eddie put his hand over his heart. “Oh, absolutely. I love Trudy. She would be an absolute delight to have.”

“Do you know how much she’ll gush about two of her ‘kids’ getting married? She’ll make such a fuss and probably cry.”

“Oh, she is absolutely going to cry.”

They rattled off more names, jotting down some family members, coworkers, university friends, and others they wanted to invite. Then they moved on to other planning topics.

“Alright, next big item on the agenda is…” Patricia flipped through her notes to get to the list she’d made. “Uh, music.”

Eddie clapped his hands together. “Okay, I’ve got a lot of ideas on the music front. I know of a bunch of bands that would be awesome. Or, if you don’t want a band, that’s cool, but then I want to find a DJ who can play some _sick_ music. I’ll submit all my requests, I have a lot of opinions.”

Patricia hesitated. She really didn’t want to disappoint him, but she was pretty sure they couldn’t have the kind of music they really wanted. “I don’t think we can have music we actually like at the wedding.”

Eddie groaned. “Come on, you sure?”

“Have _you_ ever heard heavy metal at a wedding? Besides, none of our friends would like it, and we want them to actually enjoy themselves. And if we had music that was actually cool, it would scandalize our parents. Do you want them to storm out of our wedding?”

He got a contemplative look on his face and started stroking his chin in thought. “Well…”

“No! We are _not_ driving our parents out of our wedding.” She smacked at his hand. “As funny as that would be,” she added, muttering under her breath.

“How can we have fun if we have lame music at our own wedding?”

“Well, consider this: if we play cheesy wedding music, there’s a chance it might get your dad to dance.”

Eddie’s eyes suddenly went wide with glee. “Oh, _yes_. God, that would be _amazing_. I absolutely want my father to pull out some embarrassing, horrible dad dancing. We’re gonna have to somehow pump him full of alcohol first, that’s the only way that’ll happen.”

“Note to self: have booze stocked to the tits at the open bar, possibly spike the punch,” Patricia dictated while writing in the notepad.

Eddie chuckled. “I appreciate your dedication to getting my dad hammered. He’ll probably need it to get through the day. I might need it, too.”

“Oh, come on, it won’t be that bad. It’s your wedding, I think he’ll refrain from making a fuss.”

He grimaced. “I don’t know. He might get all huffy every time he sees us make even the tiniest break from tradition.”

“Hey, don’t worry about him. This is about you and me. I, for one, care a lot about what you think, and I don’t care about what he thinks at all.”

This made Eddie smile. “You’re right, you’re right. Forget about Dad. We have much more important things to discuss, like…” he leaned over and took a look at the list she’d made. “Wedding colors. Yeah, that’s probably important to make a decision on. Got any opinions?”

Patricia suddenly got excited. “Ooh, can we have black as our colors?”

“While I, personally, think that would be cool, isn’t having black supposed to be bad luck or something?”

“I have never heard such a thing.”

“Still, it might be a little, you know, dark.”

“When has that ever stopped us?”

“I know, I know. I just don’t want it to feel too dismal or anything. It’s not just us attending this thing, you know.”

“Well, I’m certainly not going for anything super bright,” she snarked.

“Oh no, definitely not.”

She hesitated, thinking. “I know we probably shouldn’t. No one would want us to. Amber might kill me if I make her wear a black bridesmaids dress.” She sighed. “But I still kind of want black, though.”

“Then let’s go for the next best thing. You like purple, yeah? We can go dark purple. That’s close to black.”

She started warming up to the idea. “Yeah, I like that.” She turned to him and pictured the image, allowing herself to indulge in it and finding it very pleasurable for her. “And you look _really_ good in purple.” He didn’t go for purple very often, but whenever he did wear it for a special occasion, it drove her wild every single time. It just did it for her. Suddenly she was _really_ warming up to the purple idea.

“You know _I_ wouldn’t actually be wearing the colors, right?”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Shhhhh, let me have this image in my mind.” She looked him up and down. “We can fit purple in somehow. Vest? Tie? I can make that suit any color we like.”

Eddie groaned. “Do I really gotta wear a suit? They’re so stuffy and restrictive, and it feels way too high-class for me. Can we make the wedding leather jacket a thing? I think that’d be better than a suit.”

“That’s a shame. I think a good suit makes you look sexy.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Oh? I thought you liked the leather.”

“Well, obviously.” She slid into his lap, wrapping her legs around his hips. Leaving the notepad on his lap between them, she rested her hands at the back of his neck, massaging her fingers in his hair. He put his hands on her hips. “But, you clean up nice. And you hardly ever wear them, it’d be a nice treat for me.”

She planted a kiss on his neck, which made a faint moan escape from him. He attempted to recollect himself. “Well then I am _absolutely_ doing the suit if it’s gonna get you going like that, fuck.” He gave her hips a little squeeze. “And what about yourself? You really doing the white dress? I don’t know what seeing you in a white dress is gonna do to me.”

“Blow your mind. Drive you mad.” She clasped her hands behind his neck, caressing it with her thumbs.

“Like you don’t do that already.”

“You better enjoy this once in a lifetime chance to see me in a fancy dress. It’ll be the last time I wear anything remotely traditional. I don’t even know what my options are; I better not look stupid.”

The look he gave her was like a soft touch. “You’re gonna look absolutely banging. My fuckin’ hot future wife will always get me going, no matter what the dress looks like.”

She felt a sharp surge of attraction for him, and she had the sudden need to be all over him right this second. She made a move for his waistband, but her hand hit the notepad instead, which she had forgotten was in the way. They both looked down at the offending stack of paper.

“Weren’t we supposed to be planning or something?” Eddie asked with a smirk.

“Let’s put a pin in it for now,” Patricia said. They still had so many things to definitively decide, and it was a bit overwhelming, especially when they didn’t know what they were doing. And frankly, Patricia had grown tired of it for the moment. “We can talk with Joy about the rest.”

“Well, it’ll certainly be nice to have a professional events planner helping us out.”

“Planner _and_ director,” Patricia corrected. “She’s insisted we always use both of her titles, she’s worked very hard for them.”

“Uh huh, sure, whatever you say,” Eddie said, sounding like wedding thoughts were already far from his mind. He looked at her lips, moved his hands up her sides under her shirt, and then glanced down at the notepad. “You gonna put that notepad away or what?”

She tossed the notepad to the floor. “Fuck planning, anyway.”

“‘Fuck planning’? I’m thinking of fucking something else.”

“How your pickup lines continue to work is a mystery to me.”

“Hey, you’re the one they continue to work on, I think that’s a question you need to ask yourself.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just shut up and put your hands on me already.”

“I already have,” he said in a low, seductive rumble.

“You know what I mean, doofus.”

She leaned in and kissed him, immediately sticking her tongue in his mouth and trying to get as much of him as possible. Eddie responded by moving his hands to her ass, cupping and squeezing with his long fingers. She lit up with sensation, the urge to fuck him increasing exponentially with every touch. She tugged his shirt off so there were no more barriers to get in the way of her desperately grabbing at him. She pressed her hand to the burning heat of his chest, savoring the chance to fully touch him and the pulsing sensations that went through her as she did so. His shirt was quickly followed by other articles of clothing, and as things turned hot and passionate, any and all thoughts of planning were swiftly forgotten.

* * *

They flopped into bed after a long day. It was pretty late, and their room was dark and quiet. They had spent the day running around doing wedding stuff, which had been fast-paced and intense because Joy had been in charge.

“God, I am beat,” Eddie exhaled. “D’you think Joy’s trying to kill us?”

“Possibly. Maybe she’s trying to get revenge on us for rejecting her preferred venue location.”

“I am _not_ having my wedding at a farm. I don’t care how ‘modern’ or ‘upscale’ or ‘cute’ it is, I flat-out refuse.”

“Oh, I agree with you,” Patricia said. “But it means we have to face the wrath of Joy.”

Eddie groaned. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive much longer at this pace. Joy’s wedding regimen will definitely kill me.”

“Aw, cheer up, there’s only many more months left of this.”

He looked over at her and smiled. “But it’ll be worth it, because at the end of all this, I’ll be able to call you my wife.”

“‘Wife,’” Patricia contemplated, rolling the word over her tongue. “‘Wife’ doesn’t really seem like a word that would fit me.”

“Oh, and you think ‘husband’ is a word that fits me?”

She looked him over. “Maybe.”

He scoffed. “I’m not so sure that it does. ‘Cause in my mind, that is a big, fancy word that implies a lot of seriousness and adult responsibility. The stuffy, boring, man who has to be the support, or the breadwinner, or whatever the fuck they call it, and that is certainly not me.”

Patricia felt an amused look take over her face. “Are you pulling that image straight from the fifties or something?”

Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, I never really had a good marriage to look at while growing up, so I don’t really know how it’s supposed to go.”

From the tone of his voice, Patricia could tell that he wasn’t joking around or exaggerating. This had clearly been weighing on his mind, possibly for a while. “This is actually worrying you, isn’t it?”

He sighed. “Honestly, I am terrified of fucking this up. I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to be doing.”

“Exactly what you’re doing now,” she assured. “Take all your traditional, preconceived notions and throw them out the window. What this is — what _I_ want — is a partnership. That’s all it is, really. You hold my hand and we go through everything that gets thrown at us together. I support you, you support me. You don’t need to act like anyone else, and you don’t have to be the ‘perfect’ husband, whatever that means, anyway. You’ll be _my_ husband, and all I want is your dumb self. Nothing more.”

Patricia took his hand and gently rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, which elicited a small smile from him.

He looked at her softly. “Well, I hope you know the exact same thing goes for you.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Really now?”

“You say ‘wife’ isn’t a word that fits you. Were you thinking of the kind of lady who stays in the kitchen all day, takes care of kids, and has no personality? _Bo-ring_ , who even wants that? Like you said, this is a partnership, and you’re my partner. And I don’t care what other wives are like or whatever, I only care about you. You’re the badass who decided you liked _this_ idiot,” he gestured to himself, “and I want to be able to brag about my awesome wife to every single person I meet.”

She cracked a grin. “So you’ve made it your mission in life to annoy every single person you meet, I see.”

“Hey, as I see it, there are two overarching reasons to get married. One, partner for life. Two, you get to brag about your spouse as much as you want. In fact, I think you’re _required_ to broadcast to the world how awesome your spouse is and how obsessed you are with them. I’m pretty sure it’s in the marriage contract.”

“Marriage contract?” she asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, it’s law. You’re legally required to tell everyone how much you love me.”

“Me resisting the urge to kill you is my way of broadcasting it.”

“Aw, Yacker, I can really feel the love.”

“You’re a doofus,” she retorted. “I love you, but I don’t feel the need to shout about it all the time.”

“But you can if you want to.”

“What, are _you_ planning on doing that?”

“Oh, absolutely,” he grinned. “All the time. And when I say shout, I really do mean shout. For both the good stuff and the bad stuff. If anyone ever tries to mess with you, I really wanna be able to shout, ‘Hey, that’s my wife!’ That carries more weight than ‘that’s my girlfriend.’ I want all the douchebags out there to know that I’m serious about kicking their ass.”

“I’m perfectly capable of kicking ass myself.”

“Yeah, I know that. But that doesn’t mean you should always have to.”

Patricia shook her head. “That hero complex of yours is just insatiable.”

“I can’t help it, I wanna protect the people I love. Which is you, just to be clear.”

She felt the butterflies flutter around in her stomach, and she lovingly rolled her eyes. “You’re stupid.”

“So are you.”

“Hey!”

“Patricia, I love you, but you once called fettuccine alfredo ‘mac and cheese.’”

“Those are basically the same thing.”

“ _No_ ; they are not the same thing at _all_.”

“Well then, I’m banning fettuccine alfredo from our wedding. Can’t risk having that confusion.”

Eddie chuckled. Then he let himself get lost in thought for a moment. “How do you think it’s gonna go? You know, the whole day.”

“Relatively smooth, I hope. But our friends and family are fairly predictable, so I’m pretty sure I know what will happen. Our family members will get on our nerves, Jerome and Alfie will get into some kind of nonsense, and Fabian and Nina will act so sweet on each other it’ll make the rest of us sick,” Patricia said. “And Amber’s going to cry the entire time, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” he replied. Then, he got a look on his face. Patricia recognized this look; it meant that he’d thought up something in his mischievous little mind. “Which one of _us_ do you think will cry first at the wedding?” he asked her.

“Uh, you, obviously.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “I’m not so sure.”

She gave him a steely glare. “I _don’t_ cry.”

“Well, that’s just a bold-faced lie.”

“I will _not_ cry first.”

“Wanna bet?” Eddie challenged.

“Uh, absolutely. I am _that_ confident that you will cry first. I might not even cry at all.”

Eddie smirked. “We’ll see about that. So what’s the wager?”

Patricia thought for a moment. “Loser has to sing karaoke at our next group hangout with our friends.”

“You’re on. I can’t _wait_ for you to embarrass yourself in front of everyone. I’m already thinking of horrible songs to make you sing.”

“You’re so full of it. You know it’s gonna be _you_ showing off how much you can’t sing.”

“You keep telling yourself that, Yacker.”

“All I know is I _refuse_ to get filmed by Jerome and Alfie, which will _definitely_ happen if either of us sings karaoke in front of the group, so I will not be losing.”

“Oh yeah I forgot, I gotta ask them if they can send me a copy when they film you singing ‘Barbie Girl.’”

“‘ _Barbie Girl_ ’? You wouldn’t _dare_.”

“It’s written in the stars, babe. Just you wait.”

“I won’t cry! I’m tough.”

“Mhm.”

“What, don’t believe me? I’ll show you how tough I can be.”

In a flash, she rolled on top of him, straddling him and rather aggressively pinning his arms above his head. Eddie, a bit surprised, seemed to be holding his breath in anticipation. As seductively as she knew how, she leaned in until she was mere inches away from his face. “How would you like to get manhandled?”

“Well, consider me scared _and_ horny.”

A smile curled over her lips. “Good. Now, shirt off, buddy.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

In her hands, Patricia held the garment bag containing her wedding dress. Earlier in the day she had gone wedding dress shopping with her mum, Joy, and Mara, who had made the trip in for the day. The process had been long, tedious, and incredibly frustrating at times, but in the end, she was quite pleased with the dress. It was a little bit more traditional than she or anyone else had been expecting for her, but she’d fallen just a teensy bit in love with it. And once she added a bunch of accessories, then it would really feel like her.

As she was hanging the bag up in the bedroom closet, Eddie popped his head in. “Is that the dress?”

She whipped her head around and slammed the closet door shut. “Nope! No, you are not allowed to see.”

He fully stepped into the room, a grin on his lips. “Aw, come on, not even a peek?”

“Nope. You are not allowed to look _at_ it, you are not allowed to look _for_ it, you are not even allowed to _think_ about it before the ceremony.”

He raised an eyebrow, amused. “I didn’t peg you to be superstitious about this.”

“I’m not. But it spoils the fun.”

“The fun, huh?” he asked rather flirtatiously, crossing the room and stopping in front of her.

“Mhm. It’s about the waiting, the suspense, the agony, the surprise, the excitement,” she listed dramatically. “Or at least that’s what Amber said.”

“Ah, I see,” he said, a playful expression on his face. He slid closer, vastly shrinking the space between them. “I don’t see you, and then you pop out, all done up, and you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen?”

Patricia smiled, a flutter in her chest. “Something like that.”

His face was mere inches away from hers now, tantalizingly close. He put his hand on the small of her back, gently pulling her close to him. “Even though you already are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, right now, and you always will be.”

Hearing him say stuff like that never got old. A warm feeling of love swirled around within her, and she couldn’t help but blush.

“Shut up, you weasel.”

She leaned in and met his lips with her own. She took her time, savoring the soft, sweet taste and holding it long and slow, kissing him until the warm, tingly sensation made its way all the way down to her toes. She had to stop herself before she went overboard and forgot she had a point to make about superstitions and this dress.

“Well, that’s certainly one way to shut me up,” Eddie quipped. “Alright, message received.”

“Good,” Patricia said. “Now, I don’t want you snooping around, so how about this: you don’t look at my dress, I won’t look at your suit. Deal?”

“Fair is fair,” he conceded.

“Excellent. And now we don’t speak about this until the day of.”

“Okay, but, first, if we’re _really_ gonna push this from our minds ‘til then…” Eddie got a pleading look on his face. “You sure you can’t even let me have _one_ peek at the dress? Just half a second? I promise I will forget it immediately, it’ll be like I never saw it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright, I can _tell_ you _one_ thing about it.”

His interest was piqued. “I’m listening.”

“It’s white.”

He dramatically rolled his eyes, which sent Patricia into a fit of giggles. He pushed at her shoulders, but he was smiling, and she could tell he was in good humor.

“Ha-ha, you’re very funny.”

She laughed once more. “You _really_ thought I was gonna give you something?”

He shrugged. “It was worth a shot.”

“Why are you so interested, anyway? I thought boys didn’t care about dresses and all that stuff.”

“I’m interested in anything that’ll make you look smokin’ hot.” His lips curled into a cheeky grin. “Also, I gotta do my research so that I know what I need to take off.”

Patricia tutted. “Naughty, you are.”

“I can get some practice taking stuff off right now, if you like.”

“Your pickup lines truly are something.”

“So is that a yes?”

“...You better throw me on that bed right now before I come to my senses.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying!!! Please leave a comment if you do, I would love to hear what you guys think. I have no idea how long it will be until the next chapter is published; they're pretty long, and I'm busy with work and stuff. But it will be up eventually, and I've been working real hard, so hopefully you guys enjoy! Stay tuned!


	5. Wedding Week

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me an incredibly long time, and it's a long one, but it's finally ready and I'm happy with it. Get ready for some girl chat and talk about love. Also a note that homegirl gets drunk AF in this chapter, which makes her very emotional.
> 
> Also, I feel now is the time to tell you what I've decided everyone's job is in this universe, because I have spent far too long thinking about this and fully fleshing out this reality and putting a lot of thought and effort into it. Also, many of the professions are mentioned/relevant to the story, so here are the jobs I've assigned:  
> -Nina and Fabian are historians at a museum in America  
> -Amber works in fashion in Paris  
> -Mara works at some kind of serious professional STEM job  
> -Jerome works at a marketing agency  
> -Alfie is an entertainer. Like, a true starving artist working literally every job: stand-up comedy, online video skits, improv, you can hire him for magic shows; literally anything you can think of, he does  
> -Joy is an events planner and director  
> -Eddie writes for a magazine; like, not news, but more in-depth features  
> -Now, it took me a long time to decide on Patricia, because she was the hardest to zero in on one thing, but I ultimately settled on compliance (like, in the law realm of things), meaning she yells at companies when they're not following laws/regulations and tells them to fix their shit. Honestly the image of her yelling at Big Business and telling them they're wrong just felt very comforting to me. I could be convinced of another career path for her but this is what I've settled on.

The months seemed to slip by in a blur. After a frenzy of planning and coordination and preparation, it was suddenly a week before the wedding.

Most of the out of town guests were arriving in town a day or two before the wedding, but their out-of-country friends in the wedding party were arriving a full week beforehand. This was to both adjust to the time zone and help with the hell week of turbo drive wedding prep that would take a whole team.

Patricia and Eddie had offered to help everyone get settled, but their efforts kept getting obstructed by all their friends, who insisted on not letting them help in order to take any extra burden and responsibility off them; they had enough to worry about this week, their friends said. Patricia and Eddie would argue that _Joy_ had actually taken on a huge chunk of wedding responsibility, due to the fact that she didn’t really trust them with a lot of it, but they weren’t going to put up a fight. Arguing with Joy rarely ended in success.

They had offered to pick up and house Amber for the week, but that proposal had been squashed. Joy was picking up Amber from the airport, and she’d be staying at her place. They’d offered the same to Fabian and Nina, but the two of them had opted to stay in a hotel for the week because they didn’t want to impose for so long, and Alfie would be picking them up. Mara had also opted for a hotel; she was going to make the drive in a few days beforehand and make it a long weekend.

There was a lot of craziness and running around happening on the day their friends got into town; Patricia and Eddie were incredibly busy all day, and they didn’t actually get to see anyone throughout the day. However, they’d accounted for this, so they’d put aside some time at night to meet up and hang out with everyone; they were going to have girls night and boys night. Patricia was really excited to see the girls; it had been a while since everyone had been together.

When nighttime rolled around, Patricia and Eddie went their separate ways — Eddie to the pub with the boys, and Patricia to the location where the girls had agreed to meet. She walked into the bar and looked around, hoping she’d find them quickly so she didn’t spend too long wandering around looking like an idiot. She finally spotted them across the bar, and Joy caught sight of her as she began to approach them.

“Is that the lady of the hour I see?”

Suddenly, Patricia was bombarded by high-pitched screaming and blonde hair. Amber attacked her with a bone-crushing hug and immediately started babbling.

“Oh my god Patricia it is _so_ good to see you it’s been _sooo_ long since we’ve been together in person!!!!! I really wish we could see each other more often I miss you and I feel like there’s so much to catch up on! And you’re getting _married_! I still can’t believe it sometimes and I’m _sooooo_ excited.”

“It’s good to see you, Amber. Can I go say hi to everyone else now?”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Amber let her out of the death grip, and they went over to join the rest of the group. Patricia greeted Joy and Mara with a hug, and she gave an especially long hug to Nina, since it had been quite a while since they’d seen each other.

“Oh, Nina, it’s been far too long,” Patricia said. “Have you done something different with your hair?”

“I mean, I did get it cut recently, but nothing too drastic,” Nina said.

“Well, you look amazing. Come on, let’s get some booze.”

And then they began their night of festivities. They all started with a fresh round of drinks, bringing their glasses together and saying cheers before Patricia got down to business.

“So how’s everyone doing?” Patricia asked, taking a swig of the cocktail in front of her. “I want all the updates. It’s been too long since we’ve all properly caught up.”

Joy, Mara, and Nina put up a protest. This was her week, they said, they wanted to talk about her.

Amber had no such qualms. “Thank you for asking, Patricia, I have a _lot_ going on and I want to tell you all about it. Have you ever been to a fashion show? They are _amazing_ , there’s so much going on, it’s such an adrenaline rush. The fashion is unique and spectacular, and there’s nothing quite like it. I _love_ doing fashion shows. You get to connect with all the best designers. I have met so many fascinating and famous people in the fashion business. However, I’m still working on my dream goal of meeting Victoria Beckham. Also, the dating life in Paris is phenomenal. I have met and dated so many beautiful, interesting people. The relationships never last for long, but they’re always _so_ romantic. The French really place an emphasis on romance. Everyone tries to sweep you off your feet. I think my favorite affairs were Maurice and Emilie. Maurice was so kind and charming, and Emilie, she was just _so_ beautiful. _Everyone_ there is beautiful. Joy, there are _so_ many cute girls in Paris, you _must_ visit me. I know where all the hot spots are, we’ll hit the town and you can introduce yourself to all the incredibly beautiful women you like.”

Joy blushed. “Maybe someday.”

Patricia felt bombarded by all that information, and she had nothing to say in response. “Well, that was a lot. Thank you, Amber.”

Amber beamed. “You’re welcome.”

“Alright, _all_ of you are giving me an update; I’m the bride, I declare it. So who’s next?” Patricia looked around and then turned to Mara. “So, Mara? How’s your fancy smart person job going?”

“Well, I did recently get a promotion,” Mara said.

“Hey, cheers to that!” Patricia exclaimed, leading the other girls in a celebratory lifting of their various glasses.

“Look at you, moving up in the world!” Joy applauded.

“And are you seeing anyone at the moment?” Amber asked. “I think we were all a little bummed when you broke up with that devastatingly handsome guy.”

Mara laughed. “I am currently single at the moment.”

“Watch out, lads, Mara Jaffray is single and ready to mingle,” Patricia announced, taking another sip of her drink, which she did not remember getting refilled, but was full anyway.

This just amused Mara. “While I love that attitude, I’m not really looking to mingle right now. I’ve got a few things to sort with myself.”

“Whatever _that_ means,” Amber said, dropping any interest in Mara and turning her attention to Joy. “Joy, it’s your turn now. Tell us _all_ the exciting things you’ve been doing.”

“Oh, you know I don’t have a lot going on,” Joy rebuffed.

“Uh, that is not true!” Mara refuted. “You’re working on cool events all the time!”

“Yeah, at my _job_. I, personally, don’t have much going on.”

“Ooh, tell us about something fancy you’ve worked on!” Amber requested with big, eager eyes. “Please? Just one?”

Joy considered. “Well, I did organize a gala for some big company. And when I say big, I mean _big_. And fancy. Long, fancy dresses, black tie, the whole shebang. They requested a huge ice sculpture, and they _insisted_ on only having the most expensive food — caviar, truffles, all that jazz. I felt much too snobby. But, I did enjoy seeing all the beautiful ballgowns.”

“Oh, that _does_ sound fancy.”

“Mhm.”

“What about your love life?” Amber asked, abruptly changing the subject. “I know I already told you to come see the women in Paris, but I must know: anyone _special_ in your life right now?”

“We don’t need to talk about the sad state of my love life.”

“Aw, Joy, you’ll find someone!” Amber encouraged.

“Yeah, your lovely lady is out there somewhere,” Patricia added.

“Well, we’re not finding a solution to this problem tonight,” Joy said with finality. “Now, enough about me. Next.”

Patricia then turned her attention to Nina. “Nina? How’s life in America?”

“Good!” Nina brightened up. “Actually, Fabian and I were recently given some old manuscripts to look at at work, we think it’s some kind of ancient storybook; we are really looking forward to translating it.”

Patricia shook her head. “God, you guys are such _nerds_.”

“But it’s fun! We get to look at the coolest stuff.” A tiny little smile made its way onto Nina’s face. “And we get to work together, which is the best part.”

“It’s not too much time together?” Patricia questioned. “I know _I’d_ probably get tired of Fabian if I had to work with him all day _and_ live with him without getting a break. Too much nerd.”

Nina shook her head, that smile on her face getting even bigger. “No, I could never be tired of him, I love him.”

Amber put a hand to her chest. “Awww, that’s so sweet, Neens.”

Mara raised her eyebrows suggestively. “ _Soo_...might we be seeing another proposal soon?”

Nina blushed deep red. “What? A proposal? Me?”

“Yes, you, Nina.”

Nina tried to brush them all off. “That’s not happening. A proposal is the furthest thing from my mind right now.”

Amber elbowed her. “Oh, come on, Nina. You have a wonderful boyfriend you’re completely in love with. And we’re about to attend Patricia’s _wedding_ , you can’t tell me you haven’t at least thought about it.”

Nina, warily, gave in to the pressure. Just a little bit. “Well...I’d be lying if I said I haven’t _thought_ about it. You know, like, in the abstract. As a hypothetical.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. Because you _definitely_ haven’t been daydreaming about getting the perfect, most romantic proposal. Are you _sure_ your boyfriend has no plans in the works?” Amber questioned.

Suddenly, Nina’s face was taken over by a smile that was so incredibly fake that it almost hurt to look at. There was something off in her eyes. “You guys are very funny. Me, a proposal. It’s so funny! Look at me laugh! Ha ha ha!”

Patricia arched an eyebrow. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am _perfectly_ fine. One hundred percent fine. No one has ever been more fine than me.”

Patricia gave her a skeptical look, and she saw matching looks from the rest of the girls.

Nina broke fairly quickly. “Okay, I’ll be honest. I do want it, I do. It would just be amazing. But...we haven’t talked about it. Fabian’s never brought it up. I don’t even know if he would _want_ to be married.”

“Nina, that’s ridiculous,” Patricia declared.

“Yeah, he’s crazy about you!” Mara insisted.

“I am _positive_ he wants to,” Patricia asserted. “But you know him, he’s _clueless_ when it comes to this stuff. He probably just has no idea how to bring it up. Or, he just gets so paralyzed with fear when he thinks about it because he wants it to be perfect. You know he gets nervous and overthinks things. He couldn’t even ask you to prom without telling me to leave the room. Just give him time, he’ll come ‘round.”

Nina looked a little bit dejected. “Well, either way, it’s not happening anytime soon.”

Patricia knew that the alcohol must have been getting to Nina, otherwise she never would have discussed this subject for this long; she would’ve clammed up and tried to deflect literally as much as possible. Alcohol made them all a little looser, it seemed.

“You just have to subtly let him know you want it,” Amber said.

“How?” Nina asked. “I don’t want to overwhelm him.”

“Start small. You need to start talking about rings, all the time. Bring up jewelry in conversation. Look at magazines. Point out what you like. Here, let me bring up a catalogue on my phone, take a look.”

“Ooh, that one’s pretty!” Mara exclaimed.

Patricia was not super interested in looking at a bunch of jewelry, so she was already starting to doze off when her phone dinged with a message. All attention to the conversation immediately left her as she went to look at the text; it was from Eddie. He had sent her a screenshot of that comedian she’d seen him watching a couple of times. Mulaney? She thought that was his name, at least. The subtitle on the photo was of him saying, “My wife is a bitch and I like her so much.”

_Eddie: me talkin about u_

Butterflies whizzed around her stomach. How dare he try and be cute with her and get her to blush while they were supposed to be out with their friends. The audacity! She loved him so much.

 _Patricia: but I’m not your wife yet  
_ _Eddie: almost_ ❤️  
 _Patricia: have I ever told you how annoying you are  
_ _Eddie: you may have mentioned it once or twice  
_ _Eddie: but you have also mentioned how much you love me  
_ _Patricia: doesn’t make you less annoying  
_ _Eddie: I love you too yacker_ 😘😘😘

“Uhh hello, earth to Patricia???”

Patricia looked up. “Huh? What?” She saw the cheeky grins on their faces, and she felt herself go completely red, realizing she had gotten completely distracted, zoned out, and missed the _entire_ conversation. Even worse, they’d called her name multiple times and she hadn’t heard them at all. They were going to give her so much shit for this.

“Whatcha looking at there, Patricia?” Joy asked with a mischievous tone in her voice.

“I was checking up on all of my messages, if you must know,” Patricia said defensively.

“And what did he say?” Mara asked expectantly.

Patricia tried to play dumb. “Uh, what did _who_ say?”

“Well there’s only one person who can get you smiling at your phone like that,” Mara teased, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

“Aw, what did Eddie say?” Amber pleaded. “I bet it was soooo romantic, if he interrupted his night out to talk to you.”

“Or it could’ve been dumb and horny, if he’s out getting drunk with Jerome and Alfie,” Nina pointed out.

“Uh, _your_ boyfriend is also with them, so don’t absolve him from blame if they’re being stupid boys,” Amber countered.

“Yeah, fair enough,” Nina said, knocking back her drink.

“So which is it, Patricia? What’s got you so smitten? Romantic words of passion or sexting?” Joy asked.

“How ‘bout you mind your business?” Patricia snapped.

“Ooh, definitely romance, then,” Joy said to the others. “She’s fighting back. If it were sex she would just blush, say nothing, and pretend it didn’t exist.”

“You all suck, all of you,” Patricia snarled, taking a hefty gulp of her drink.

This was followed by incessant teasing, which just drove Patricia to drink even more. She couldn’t remember what drink she was on. Two? Three? More? It didn’t matter. She kept finding new drinks in her hand somehow; she didn’t remember ever getting a refill herself, so she guessed the girls were making sure she never ran dry. Were they _trying_ to get her drunk? Whatever, she didn’t care. She was having fun with her friends, she was about to get married, and she felt good and loose.

As the night went on, they all got a little tipsy. Each girl was at various levels of inebriation, and Patricia was probably the most drunk. Okay, she was _definitely_ the most drunk. Not _super_ drunk, but enough to feel it. The other girls were taking advantage of this, teasing her and trying to turn the conversation all lovey.

“So, Patricia,” Nina said, a playful grin on her face, “are you excited to get _married_?”

“Yeah, of course I am,” Patricia answered. “It’s been, you know, a lot. But, I’m ready for it. I’m ready to do this thing.”

“Oh, I can’t _wait_ to see your dress, it’s going to be so beautiful! And I can’t wait to hear your vows, see your first dance... _all_ of it is just going to be so romantic and beautiful,” Amber said dreamily.

“Oh, right, vows, I gotta write those,” Patricia said.

Amber gasped. “Patricia! You haven’t written them yet?”

“What? I still have time, I’ll get it done. I just have to figure out what to say. D’you think ‘you’ve got a cute face and nice ass’ will suffice?”

“Patricia, if that’s all you say, I might die on the spot. And not in the good way,” Amber clarified.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it good. Maybe even as good as his are going to be; goodness knows that boy has a way with nice words. I’ve got time to work it out.” She looked out at the rest of them, raising a glass. “One more week ‘til my wedding, ladies.”

“Gosh, just one more week, where has all the time gone?” Joy reminisced, sounding a little nostalgic.

“You know, if you had asked me back in school, I would not have bet that you’d be the first of us to get married,” Mara said.

“Why? Because I’ve got such a cheery personality?” Patricia asked sarcastically.

“Something like that.”

“You can be a little…” Nina scrunched her face as she searched for the right word. “...difficult, sometimes. Especially with new people. As I can attest to.”

Patricia grimaced. “Sorry.”

“All I’m saying is: you don’t trust very easily. So, yeah, of course we’re a little surprised it’s you who’s getting married first.”

“Frankly, a tiny part of me is surprised you ever liked anyone that much at all. Whenever I tried to organize your love life for you you yelled at me,” Amber said.

“I didn’t want to have romance just for the sake of it, Amber,” Patricia said. “The concept of a relationship didn’t interest me all that much, not with just anyone.”

“You know, that’s why I always thought you’d end up liking girls, Patricia,” Joy admitted. “You never seemed into dating boys for the longest time.”

“Uh, I’m not into girls,” Patricia said. “I’m not really into boys much, either. I’m into Eddie.”

Amber, drunk, suddenly started sobbing. “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life!!!”

“Alright, Amber, don’t get dramatic.”

“I will get dramatic if I want to!” Amber declared. “I _love_ romance, you know this. You guys are just so incredibly romantic towards each other, and I just absolutely adore it.”

“We’re really not,” Patricia disputed.

“Don’t you lie to me, Patricia! And don’t lie to yourself, either. You two just _love_ to be cute to one another.” She put her hands over her heart. “Remember down in the tunnels when he told you he was falling in love with you? That was soooo romantic.”

“Awww yeah, that was,” Nina agreed, getting the kind of look on your face you had when you saw a puppy or baby so cute you just couldn’t handle it.

“Yeah, don’t tease him about that if you can help it, he was so embarrassed when I told him the truth, and his face goes red like a cherry whenever Alfie and Fabian bring it up,” Patricia said.

“Yeah, but we can tease _you_ about it.” Nina elbowed her. “I remember seeing the hearts in your eyes when he said that to you.”

“She _still_ gets hearts in her eyes when he says that stuff to her,” Joy pointed out, making Patricia flush pink at the reminder.

“Aww, yes, you _do_ , it’s _soo_ cute,” Amber gushed.

Nina flashed her eyebrows at Patricia, smiling rather impishly. “You loooooove him,” she teased.

“Of course I do. Newsflash: I’m marrying him,” Patricia sassed.

“Yeah, but you never _say_ it. At least, not in front of us. I, for one, would _love_ to hear you say it more, it would give me _all_ the feels,” Amber said.

“Just because I don’t talk mushy all the time doesn’t mean I don’t feel it,” Patricia said.

“Well, I think you _should_ talk mushy.”

“Pardon?”

The other four girls all looked at each other, conspiratorial looks in their eyes. “Let’s see if we can get her to talk about how much she loves him, I think it would be good for her,” Joy said to them.

“Excuse me?”

They all looked back at Patricia again. “Patricia, we have decided that you have to do it,” Joy said to her.

“All of us want it and we outvote you. And it’s almost your _wedding_! I think you need to get used to talking like that,” Amber said.

“Humor us,” Nina said.

Patricia sighed. There wasn’t any use in fighting it. Whatever, she could talk a little for one night, she was already feeling loose. “It’s looking like I don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“We’ll help you out and supply you with a question,” Joy said. She tapped her chin, trying to think of something good. “Oh, I’ve got one. Tell us — What’s been the best part about your relationship?”

The _best_ part? Where to begin? It felt impossible to just pick one thing. She didn’t exactly know how to put any of her feelings into words, either. It was hard enough to say nice stuff to Eddie, let alone anyone else. But, she was drunk, so talking like that suddenly felt easier. The alcohol had been making her lips loose all night long, and it was time to let it out.

“Honestly? Just the fact that I know he’ll always be there. Every day I come home, and he’s always there, and I love that. And…” she trailed off, not wanting to say exactly what she was thinking; it would make her sound incredibly soft and cheesy.

“And what?” Joy questioned. “Come on, spit it out.”

“No, I don’t want to say it. You’ll just give me a hard time.”

“Uh, there is no holding back on this night, so you better say it, bitch.”

Patricia mentally prepared herself; she knew she was going to feel silly saying this out loud. “I’m a simple gal. The physical reassurance and comfort is all I need. Just being able to hold him, sleeping in the same bed, that’s the best part.”

“So your favorite part’s the physical, huh?” Joy asked, suggestively arching her eyebrows.

“Oh, shut up.”

“That’s _so_ sweet, Patricia,” Amber commented. “A lot more affectionate than I thought you were going to say.”

“Yeah, yeah. But that’s enough of that for now.”

“Alright, we’ll give you a reprieve, but you’re not out of the woods. We’ll counter with the opposite question. Get _deep_ ,” Joy said. “You gave us the best; now, what’s been the _hardest_ part of your relationship?”

Patricia had to think. They’d had their ups and downs, particularly at the very beginning of their relationship. But there was one thing that stuck out to her, one that had been more difficult than the rest. Her heart still ached if she thought about it too much. “During university, when he had to leave over the summers and go back to the states,” she answered. “That sucked a _lot_ , and it was difficult. I missed him so much.”

“Yeah, that must have been hard,” Joy acknowledged. “But you made it through! And it wasn’t like you couldn’t talk to each other or anything.”

“I know, but it’s not the same. He was on the other side of the world. I wasn’t able to touch him, smell him, hold his hand — none of that. Sometimes I would just want to see him, you know, and not through a computer screen. He wasn’t there with me, so I couldn’t share stuff with him, couldn’t really make fun of him, couldn’t go to him when I wanted and needed him. And…”

She stopped herself. She wasn’t sure she wanted to reveal what she’d _truly_ feared over those summers; a fear that _still_ hid in the back of her mind. Deep down, even though she knew it was irrational, she still feared that this could happen in her very worst nightmares.

Joy noticed her sudden hesitation. “And what?”

Patricia exhaled. “Every time he left, there was this part of me that was scared he wouldn’t come back,” she admitted. “Which, I know, was a stupid fear, but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t want to let go of him.”

“That’s not a stupid fear,” Mara assured.

“I felt the same thing whenever Fabian and I had to be apart for the summers,” Nina said.

Patricia felt a little better knowing she wasn’t alone in that feeling. “I just hate feeling so clingy.”

Joy put a hand on her shoulder. “Hate to break it to you, but that means you love him and care about him.”

“And you know, Eddie was probably feeling the exact same thing when he was away,” Mara pointed out.

“Yeah, but he was the one who had the power to come back or not,” Patricia countered. “I felt completely powerless.”

“But he _did_ come back,” Joy said. “Every time.”

“I know, I know.” She exhaled deeply. She had absolutely no filter right now, so she couldn’t hold herself back from telling the following story, which was something that she had held tight to her chest and hadn’t said to anyone.

“You know, I had a moment of panic, right before uni ended. I was scared he was going to want to go back to the states, you know, full-time. And if he was firm in that decision, one of two things would then have to happen eventually. Either we’d be over — which was _not_ an option — or I’d follow him there. And I’m not gonna lie, the thought of that terrified me. I’ve never lived in America, I have no idea what that’s like. And I’ve got no friends there, no family. The only people I know at all are him and his mum. And Nina, of course, but America is huge and you do _not_ live in the same place, I wouldn’t ever be able to see you. I dunno, I just drove myself into a panic, thinking how would I do it? What would I even do while I was over there? Would I be excessively lonely? Would I even like America long-term? I mean, I’m sure I could’ve found a way to make it work, but would I want to? But, luckily, he said he wanted to stay here, thank _god_.”

“Patricia, he stayed here for all of university. If that didn’t clue you in to the fact that he was obviously going to stay here long-term, then your head is denser than I thought,” Joy said.

And that was what opened the floodgates. “I just didn’t want to lose him.”

To her horror, she started tearing up, which was the last thing she wanted to happen, but her body didn’t always respond the way she wanted it to when she was drunk. Immediately, her friends all swarmed her and embraced her in a group hug, and she was overwhelmed with a feeling of comfort and gratitude. She felt herself start to waver with emotion, getting just a tiny bit hysterical.

“I don’t want to lose him, not ever. It took me a very, _very_ long time to allow myself to trust someone like that and to let myself love and be loved, and I am _not_ letting that go now that I have it. I don’t want to lose him, I _can’t_ lose him.”

“Hey, it’s alright, calm down,” Joy soothed. “He’s not going anywhere. Trust me.”

“I think I once heard him say that he would literally rather die than be without you, so I think you’re pretty safe,” Mara said, rubbing her back.

“Well, that’s a bit dramatic, even for him,” Patricia said, her voice a little sniffly.

“Oh, bullshit, I’ve heard _you_ say nearly the same thing before,” Joy called her out.

“Uh, _no_ , I would not get that dramatic.”

“You’re crying about him _right now_!”

“I am not _crying_.”

“Well, you’re certainly getting yourself into a bit of a fit over him.”

“Because he’s just so...agh!” She threw up her hands and shook her head. “I hate him; that idiot is the only one who can get me worked up like this.”

Mara chuckled. “Remember when you said to me and Joy: ‘I give you both permission to slap me if I ever get like this over a boy’?”

Patricia grabbed Mara’s arm and stared her hard in the face. “ _Why_ did neither of you slap me??? Because _clearly_ I got like that over a boy.”

Joy patted Patricia’s shoulder. “If we’d slapped you, you might not have fallen in love so hard. I was not gonna be the one stopping the freight train that is Patricia Williamson falling in love deeply and for real.”

“Yeah, we were _not_ going to step in the way of that,” Mara added. “A slap might have made you jump ship.”

“Also, you did say you’d slap yourself,” Joy reminded her.

“Ugh, of course, it was my fault, how could I be so stupid?” Patricia chastised herself.

“Because he just charmed you so much you just couldn’t resist falling in love,” Amber batted her eyelashes. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, it was meant to happen.”

“Yeah, you’re right, it’s _his_ fault.” She took hold of her glass. “Congratulations guys, you got me all up in my feelings about him. I need another drink.”

And another drink, she had. Many more drinks, in fact. As some more time went on, she progressed past tipsy into straight-up drunk. She felt good, she felt warm, and every single one of her filters had collapsed. That’s when her lips got loose enough to truly get mushy and talk about how much she loved that idiot without holding back, and she didn’t have any intention of shutting up. Those girls were going to regret getting her drunk.

“You know what?” she began, her words slurring just a little bit. “I may have gotten a _little_ teary, but that’s just because I love him, I really do, so much.”

“You love him?” Joy looked at the other girls, impressed. “She wasn’t even prompted to say that.”

“I do, he’s so good to me; he treats me much better than I deserve.”

“Of course you deserve it!” Joy insisted. “You deserve the best treatment.”

“Either way, he’s still much too good to me, which I absolutely do not take for granted,” Patricia said. “He’s always going out of his way to do romantic things for me, trying to make me feel special. He remembers my favorite stuff — my coffee order, my favorite sandwich, my favorite songs and shows and colors, all of it. Everything. He’s always trying to make sure I’m happy.” She broke out into a small smile. “He tells me he loves me, so much, I know he makes a point to say it and I never get tired of it.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Mara said.

Patricia sighed fondly. “He says it much more often than I do; I feel like I never say it enough.”

“I’m sure he knows that you do,” Nina assured.

“I know, but I want to do more; I want to do a better job.” Suddenly, she had the incredibly strong urge to tell the girls about the secret she’d been keeping and planning for a very long time. So, as she had no self-control, she started telling them immediately.

Patricia leaned in. “Actually, can I tell you guys a little secret?” she asked.

“Uh, absolutely, I love secrets,” Amber said, now waiting with bated breath.

“Okay, so you know Eddie writes for that magazine, right?”

“Yes, Patricia, we are all very aware,” Joy said in the exasperated tone of someone who had heard this a billion times before.

“Yeah, his stuff’s really good!” Mara said.

“You _do_ actually read his stuff, right?” Joy asked Patricia.

“Of _course_ I do, why would you even ask that?” Patricia asked, offended.

“Because you’ve told me multiple times that that magazine sucks.”

“ _Shhhhhhhhh_ , you can’t say that!” Patricia exclaimed, pressing her finger to Joy’s lips and looking around as if Eddie might be able to hear them. “And I meant the _rest_ of it; his stuff is great, obviously.”

Joy swatted Patricia’s hand away. “You _have_ told him this, yes? Sometimes you’re not the best at the whole ‘communication’ or ‘positive feedback’ thing.”

“Uh, I’ve gotten better over the years, of course I’ve told him that,” Patricia said. “He knows I like to read his stuff. And he’s proud of what he does, I know he is, but he doesn’t like to talk about it. He gets embarrassed. What he _doesn’t_ know — and this is the secret I mentioned — is that I’ve kept a copy of everything of his that’s ever been published, even back to our uni days. Paper copy, too. I make him bring me one every time; he thinks I’m _real_ committed to reading the whole thing, front to back, but you know I don’t actually give a shit about the rest of it. I _certainly_ didn’t give a shit about any of the university publications; I really fooled him by pretending I cared about that one. What I do is: I cut his stuff out, and I’ve got it all in a little box that I’ve kept hidden in the back of our wardrobe for years. And eventually — I don’t know when exactly, maybe some kind of birthday or anniversary in the future, I’m not sure — I want to like, put it all together in like a giant book, kind of like a scrapbook or something. It’ll probably look horrible, ‘cause I’m not very crafty. But I want to give it to him, so he can, like, look over everything he's done, see how far he's come, and, you know, be super proud of himself. And it’d be a _complete_ shock to him, he has no idea I'm doing any of this.” She pointed an accusatory finger at them. “And if any of you breathe a single _word_ of this to him or any of the boys, there will be hell to pay. If he catches wind of this before I do it, whenever that may be, and it ruins the surprise, I might never forgive you.”

Frankly, Patricia wasn’t sure what reaction she’d been expecting from the girls. She looked at their wide eyes and the astonished expressions on their faces, and for a split second she worried that maybe the whole thing was a bad idea, or that it was too much. But then Joy put her hand to her mouth, Nina and Mara melted, and Amber looked like she might burst into tears, and all of Patricia’s concerns left her. The only thing she’d have to worry about now would be perpetual teasing.

“Oh, Patricia,” Joy whispered, her voice full of emotion.

“Don’t you _dare_ try and tell me you’re not romantic, Patricia Williamson!” Amber cried out. “Because _that_ is _unbelievably_ romantic. It’s so sweet and thoughtful it might make me cry.”

“If you call me romantic I’ll bite you.”

“It’s the truth!”

“You said you’ve been doing this since university?” Mara asked. “That’s what, four or five _years_ worth of stories? That’s some commitment, Patricia.”

“I didn’t think you could be so sentimental,” Nina teased.

“I’m _not_ sentimental.”

Nina slipped into her _bitch, please_ expression. “Sure, Patricia, sure.”

“You’ve become such a big softie, how cute,” Mara teased.

“Don’t you _dare_ call me a softie!”

“We’re just calling it like it is, babe,” Joy said. “It’s just the truth.”

“Nuh- _uh_.”

“You know, it’s okay to be a little bit soft. That’s kind of the whole point of being in love. You get to be nicer and more vulnerable with each other than you would be with anyone else.”

“Yeah, I’d be concerned if you acted soft towards _me_ , for instance,” Nina said.

“And if you’re gonna act like that toward one person, it might as well be Eddie. It _better_ be Eddie.”

It was like just hearing the sound of his name made hearts swirl around her head. She went warm from her head to her toes. “ _Okay_ , maybe I can be a _little_ soft,” she admitted, a big smitten smile overtaking her face.

“Glad to see you finally admit it,” Amber said.

“Now why do you have that look on your face?” Joy asked.

“Because I love him that’s why,” Patricia stated like it was obvious.

“Ah, clearly.”

Patricia started getting lost in her thoughts, her inebriated mind thinking about Eddie. She thought about all the little things about him that she loved, all the stuff he did for her, and how even just one touch from him could bring her a world of comfort. She would touch him as much as he would let her, if she was being honest, and the thought of it made her feel all warm and fluttery.

As her mind wandered, she found herself staring at her ring. She still liked to just look at it every now and again, both to appreciate it and to make sure that this whole thing was real. God, that ring was beautiful.

Suddenly, Patricia gasped loudly. “Nina and Amber, you haven’t seen the ring in person yet, have you??” She thrust the ring in Nina’s direction. “Look at it.”

Amber’s eyes went wide. “Yes, I _absolutely_ have to see this ring up close.” She snatched Patricia’s hand and held it right in front of her face to examine it. “This is good quality. And look at the way those diamonds sparkle! He’s got a good eye.”

“Let me look, let me look!” Nina exclaimed, taking Patricia’s hand much more gently than Amber did. “It really is gorgeous; it’s even prettier in person. And I wouldn’t pick black for _me_ , but it’s just _perfect_ for you.”

“I knowww. He did such a good job.” Patricia pulled her hand back. “He’s just the best, he really is.” She smiled and looked out at the rest of them. “Have I ever told you how much I love that dumb little smile he gets on his face? Or the little crease he gets between his eyes when I say the temperature and he has to think really hard figuring out what I actually mean? I love how he always looks at the bright side of things and how he’s not afraid to be a little shit. He loves to make things fun, and he’s got such a big heart, and I just…” she put her hands on the table in front of her, resting her head on her hands and grinning like an idiot. “You guuuuuuuuuyssssss, I love him _sooo_ much.”

The other girls all shared a look.

“Well, we did it. We got her to talk mushy,” Joy said.

“I’ll be honest, this is much more than I thought she was going to give us,” Nina admitted.

“That boy scrambles her brain, so you never know what you’re going to get.”

“I think all this booze might have had something to do with it, too.”

“You’re damn right it has. And I am feeling _great_ ,” Patricia stated with authority. Hell yeah she was feeling great; where was her fiancé? He was a handsome and delicious guy, Eddie was, and she was suddenly in a mood. “I’d _love_ to get my hands on that boy of mine in short order. How late is it? Hang on, let me go check myself out in the mirror, got to make sure I’m not looking like rubbish.”

Patricia got up and immediately stumbled. Oof, perhaps she’d had a few too many.

Joy seemed to have noticed this, and she got up and went over to steady her. “You know what? I think it’s about time to get you home. How does that sound?”

“ _That_ sounds like a smart plan,” Patricia said, poking Joy in the chest for emphasis.

“Alright, now say bye to the girls.”

“Aw, bye guys!” They all got up, and Patricia gathered Amber, Nina, and Mara into a hug. “I can’t wait to see you guys again in a few days.”

“When you’ll be getting _married_!” Amber squealed.

“Uh, we’ve still got the rehearsal, Amber, and don’t forget hens night!” Mara reminded her.

“When you’ll be _super close_ to getting married!” Amber corrected herself with just as much excitement.

“Guysss, you’re gonna make me cry, I love you guys,” Patricia gushed, hugging them tighter.

“Okay, you are definitely drunk, it’s time to go,” Joy declared, pulling her off of the other girls. “We’ll see you later, guys!”

And then Joy grabbed her hand and dragged her to go hail a taxi.

It was a bit of an ordeal, but she eventually got her drunk ass into the vehicle, and before she knew it, Joy was pushing her out the car door, telling her she better drink some water and go to sleep. Patricia assured her she would, even though she knew she’d probably forget the instructions within the next few minutes. Joy and the taxi departed, and Patricia stumbled on up to her doorstep. When she opened her front door, she saw that Eddie was already there; he looked like he had just left the kitchen and was crossing back to the living room.

Patricia felt herself light up. “ _Oh_ , it’s _you!_ ”

She took some wobbly steps towards him and practically fell into his arms, clinging to him real tight. He held her, his arms around her back. “Hi there,” she said, giggling.

“Seems like someone had a good night,” Eddie said, looking her over with a bit of amusement.

“It’s even better now,” Patricia drawled in a low voice. She drew her face closer to his and looked him up and down, drinking in his image. “You’re looking good tonight. You wanna make out or what?”

“You get very forward when you’re drunk,” he observed. “Although your flirting technique does go down a notch.”

“Are you complaining?” she asked, tracing circles on his back with her fingertips.

“Uh, no.”

She brought them nose to nose. “You love me, right?”

“Endlessly.”

She smiled. “Good.”

And then she proceeded to kiss him. His lips always felt warmer when she was drunk. Her kissing was sloppy with very little tact, but that didn’t matter one bit. All she cared about was tasting as much of him as she could. She pulled him closer to her, but that just tipped her off balance and made her stumble a bit, which resulted in the two of them toppling over onto the couch. Patricia didn’t mind the landing spot; lying on her back would actually give her more support and leverage. She grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him on top of her, wrapping her legs around him. She continued their makeout session, kissing him deeply and hungrily and being very generous with the amount of tongue she was using, as if that would do something to satiate the fire deep within her gut, which commanded her to touch and be touched as much as possible. Eddie responded by kissing her back just as eagerly, cupping the side of her face with one hand and clutching at her waist with the other. Every movement of his fingertips made quivers go down her spine, and she felt some involuntary moans escape from her. God, moments like this just made her _feel_ so much, and it made her love him all the more.

“Can I tell you a secret?” she whispered, taking a pause to just gaze at him for a moment.

“Always.”

“I love you.”

He smirked. “Hate to break it to you, but you’ve been doing a shit job at keeping that a secret.”

“Ah, damn it.” She looked up into his eyes and raised a suggestive eyebrow at him. “Well, if the cat’s out of the bag, then we could...you know…” she trailed off, biting her lip and moving a hand down to his waistband. Then she decided she didn’t want to mess around with any more pretenses and just said what she wanted. “I think we should fuck.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “How drunk are you right now?”

“Pfft. Don’t act like you’re not drunk, too.”

“Yeah, but not as much as _you_. So my question remains: how drunk are you?”

“Only a little. Or like, a medium amount.”

“What’s the drunk go-ahead word?”

This was something they had come up with long ago. If you were too drunk to remember the drunk go-ahead word, then no sex.

But Patricia knew it was a trick question, which was an important part of it. “It’s not a word, it’s a phrase. ‘Thank goodness you flossed.’” She put a hand on either side of his face and pulled him close. “Now come on and do me, hot stuff.”

His low voice sent tingles across her skin. “You don’t need to tell me twice, baby.”

He grabbed her and picked her up, which made her squeal. He carried her into the bedroom, with her giggling the entire way in. Then he threw her down on the bed and climbed on top of her, not wasting any time before kissing her neck, running his hand down the length of her body, and making things much more intimate very quickly.

* * *

They started their next morning very lazily. When they woke up, they came to a mutual agreement to just stay there in bed. Patricia’s desire to not get up and instead stay in the warm embrace of his body heat may or may not have been related to the minor hangover she had, but, luckily, Eddie didn’t seem to be in a big hurry to go anywhere, either. It was nice to just hold each other for a while.

“Hey, we never got a chance to catch each other up last night,” Eddie said as they were lying there. “The girls are my friends, too. You promised you’d fill me in on any exciting news.”

Patricia gave him a pointed look. “We were a little preoccupied.”

“I’ll say. You couldn’t _wait_ to jump my bones. Not even gonna chat a guy up first?”

Patricia rolled her eyes and shoved at him.

This just amused him. “No, but seriously, tell me what’s new with the girls. Any hot gossip I should know about?”

“Uh, no, not really,” she said, deciding not to mention anything about Nina’s proposal desires.

Eddie broke into a wicked, suggestive grin. “Well, _you_ might not have anything interesting, but, I, on the other hand, have got a _juicy_ piece of gossip for you.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Oh no, do I want to hear it?”

Eddie nodded enthusiastically. “Oh yes, you do.”

“Alright then, lay it on me.”

“Okay, so,” Eddie began, “me and the guys are at the bar, we’re catching up, laughing, having a great time. We’re also having a couple drinks, and some of us are having a bit more than others.” He side-eyed her with a delighted look; he was really enjoying telling this story. “Now, Jerome was either having a _really_ good time or a _really_ bad time, because he started getting pretty hammered. And in the peak of his inebriation, he let something slip.”

Patricia arched an eyebrow. “What?”

Eddie smiled mischievously. “He still has feelings for Mara.”

Her eyes widened. “What? Feelings for Mara?”

He nodded. “Mhmm.”

“Are you sure he wasn’t just joking around? He does that a lot.”

Eddie looked at her with the eyes of a man who had Seen things. “You were not there, this was _definitely_ for real. He sounded...forlorn. Like he was trying to be an overdramatic Shakespearian actor, except this was one hundred percent real. There was so much yearning in his voice; he was just going on and on and _on_. It was starting to make _me_ a little bit heartsick.”

Patricia was still processing this information. “They broke up _ages_ ago. He _still_ has feelings?”

“Yup. Definitely.”

“Huh. Interesting.” Without stopping to think, she said, “You know, Mara did tell us she’s single right now.”

Eddie’s head picked up, an evil grin spreading across his face. “Really? Oh, now _that_ is _certainly_ interesting.”

“No, I know that look,” she warned. “Don’t get any ideas. No evil plans, no plots, none of that. _No_ sneakiness. Leave them alone. It’s _our_ wedding. Frankly, I don’t want to focus on anyone but us this weekend.”

“I urge you to reconsider,” Eddie pleaded. “Or at least don’t shoot it down without thinking about it first. Just sit on the idea for a bit.”

“I’ve already thought about it for long enough: no intervening. It’s not a good idea. Not this weekend.”

“Uh, I disagree, I think it would be a _great_ idea.”

“You? A great idea? Name the last time you had a great idea.”

“Asking you to marry me.”

That shut her up. Nope, she couldn’t dispute that one. “Alright, you _may_ have had a good idea _one_ time.”

He had a smug look on his face. “You are never gonna be able to top that one.”

“Whatever, weasel,” she grumbled.

Eddie laughed and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Okay, I need to get up. Excuse me.”

He rolled over her body to get out of the bed on her side, which caused her to break out into a fit of giggles. “Not gonna use the other way like a normal person?”

“Nope. Can’t. It’s impossible.”

“Whatever, weirdo. Next time, you better get ready for the same in return.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

* * *

A few days later, Eddie and Patricia went to go pick up Eddie’s mum from the airport. They “weren’t supposed to be doing extra work” or whatever, but they’d fought back against Joy on this one. Eddie absolutely insisted on picking up his mother; no one else would be taking care of this for them.

Eddie embraced his mum with a giant hug when they met up for pickup. Patricia knew it had been a long time since he’d been able to see her, and there were a lot of emotions going through him right now. She could see it in the look on his face, how tightly he held her, and the way his voice wavered just a little bit as they talked.

Eddie’s mum almost squeezed the life out of Patricia when she hugged her. She’d always liked his mum. They got on real well, and she’d seemed to like Patricia right away, which was not the typical first impression Patricia had on people.

“Oh, Patricia, how _are_ you, my dear?” his mother asked, her voice oozing with warmth.

“I’m good, thank you,” Patricia answered, a smile coming to her face.

“I am just so excited for you two!” Eddie’s mum gave her one last tight squeeze and then let her go. “I’ve never had a daughter, and I can’t wait to have a beautiful daughter-in-law. Patricia, I am absolutely ecstatic to welcome you to the family. My son is an incredibly lucky young man, and he better spend every day remembering that fact.” She looked Eddie dead in the eye.

“Trust me, I won’t forget it, not for one second,” Eddie assured.

“You better treat this wonderful young lady right, Edison,” his mother warned.

“Come on, mom, you know I will,” Eddie said. “And you also know she’d kill me if I didn’t.”

“That’s right.” She turned to Patricia. “Don’t stand for any of his bullshit.”

“Hey, you’re supposed to be _my_ mother, whose side are you on?” Eddie asked incredulously.

“Hers,” she answered matter-of-factly. “You’ll quickly learn that there are no ‘sides’ in a marriage.”

“Because we’re a team?”

“No, because your wife is always right.”

Patricia gave him an incredibly smug look.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Eddie countered.

“Oh, Eddie, you’ll have a lot to learn once you get married.”

“And the learning starts in just a couple days, weasel,” Patricia teased. “You better get ready.”

Eddie gave her a soft, intimate look; one that felt slightly too personal and sensual to give with his mother here. “I think I’m ready.”

Eddie’s mum got an incredibly emotional look on her face, putting her hand over her heart. It was like the full significance of everything was suddenly hitting her very hard. “Oh, my boy, getting married! I’m so proud.” She wrapped Eddie in a tight hug and kissed his cheek.

“Ugh, _mom_ ,” Eddie groaned. He acted embarrassed, but Patricia could tell by the soft expression on his face that he secretly loved it.

They spent the rest of the day and evening with his mum, taking her around town and catching up on everything. After dinner they took her to her hotel, bid her farewell until they saw her next, and she blubbered and cried over them until she finally let them go.

“She is just going to sob buckets,” Patricia said to Eddie on their way home.

“Yeah, she is going to be a mess,” Eddie said. “She might even cry as much as Amber.”

“ _Almost_ as much as Amber.”

* * *

Patricia and Eddie were not traditional people, so they weren’t going _super_ traditional, and they weren’t following a whole lot of the classic wedding traditions. But, there were a couple of traditions their friends had _insisted_ they follow — in particular, the tradition of staying apart the night before and not seeing each other the day of the wedding until the moment they walked down the aisle. After the hen and stag parties, Patricia would be staying at Joy’s place the night before, and Eddie would be staying at their place, though Patricia imagined the boys would be crashing Eddie’s beauty sleep pretty early on the morning of.

Patricia wasn’t particularly fond of this plan. She didn’t want to be away from Eddie, especially knowing how hectic the big day would be. But the girls had outnumbered her, 5 to 1. Even her own sister had voted against her. As much as they’d both put up a protest, it looked like they were going to be forced to do this.

Which meant that the last time they would see each other before the wedding was tonight. It was just before the hen and stag parties, and Patricia and Eddie were at home, waiting for Joy to pick Patricia up and get the night started. Currently, they were by the front door, holding hands, waiting to say a last quick farewell.

“Are you _sure_ we have to do the whole ‘we don’t see each other the entire wedding day until the literal moment of’ thing?” Eddie asked. “‘Cause frankly, I’m not sure I like it so much, and we’re already following too many traditions. Makes me feel stuffy and boring.”

“Even though I don’t really want to, I’m pretty sure we have to,” Patricia said. “They’re working against us, all of them. From hens night all the way up to the ceremony, one of them is going to be with me at all times so I can’t sneak off, and I imagine the boys are going to do the same for you.”

“Pfft, I can take them in a fight. I’m taller than all of them except Jerome, and I’m definitely stronger than them.”

“Even your rugby pals? I’m pretty sure they’re in the rotation, too.”

“...Okay, maybe not.”

That made her crack a smile. “So, it looks like the ruling of the jury stands. Once I walk out this door, you will be banned from seeing me for the next eighteen hours or so.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows suggestively. “It being illegal just makes me want to do it more.”

“If you can somehow manage to knock out the boys and pull off a jailbreak, I’ll be impressed.”

“Oof, could I even handle punching Fabian in the face, though? I don’t think I’d survive the emotional toll.”

“You don’t need to punch him, just shove him, that’ll work. You can feel free to punch Jerome, though.”

Eddie chuckled, taking her other hand and pulling her closer to him. “How long until she’s supposed to get here?” he asked, his voice low.

Patricia checked her watch. “Any time now.”

They stood there for just a moment in comfortable silence. Then Eddie looked into her eyes. “You ready for this?”

“Yeah, I think so,” she replied.

“Unless we’re able to escape from our chaperones tomorrow, right now is our last moment together before getting married.” Eddie smiled softly. “The next time I see you will be at the end of the aisle, and we will be about to be declared husband and wife.”

“Oh now _that_ feels weird to say,” Patricia said. “And I thought ‘fiancée’ was a lot to get used to.”

“Well, prepare to get used to it, because starting tomorrow, those names aren’t going away.”

And that’s when it hit her. This was real, and it was really happening. Tomorrow, they would be stepping off the cliff into something entirely new, and things would change.

Eddie could sense her sudden unease. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s just a lot to process. And like, it’s not someday far off in the future anymore. It’s _here_ now. Commitment can be intimidating.”

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” She heard just a hint of worry in his voice.

“No,” Patricia answered quickly. “Absolutely not. You’re the one; there is and will never be anyone else.”

He smiled, caressing the back of her hands with his thumbs. “It’s always nice to hear you say stuff like that.”

“Hey, I can say some kind words on occasion.”

“Usually your ‘kind words’ are more along the lines of ‘idiot,’ ‘slimeball,’ ‘moron,’ ‘dipshit,’ and ‘doofus,’ all of which I cherish dearly. I don’t know how I’m supposed to go all day without them tomorrow.”

“Come on, not _all_ day. More like half a day.”

“Long enough.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Patricia admitted, feeling a sudden pang of anxiety. “I don’t want to have to wait so long to see you. Tomorrow’s gonna be stressful.”

“Hey, don’t worry so much. I’ll be right there with you.” She strapped him with a look. “You know, in spirit.”

She sighed. “I just don’t want to freak out too much.”

“If it’s any consolation, I will also be freaking out.”

A smirk tugged at her lip. “That does help a little.”

“Though I think we should make sure we remove all sharp objects and pitchers of water from your general vicinity; we can save the life of any poor employee who accidentally pushes your buttons.”

“Hey, I promise I’ll behave.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.”

There was a knock at the front door, and they could hear Joy’s muffled voice from the other side. “Paging the future bride! Your chariot awaits to take you to your last night of freedom! Get on out here, bitch, let’s get crazy!”

They looked at each other. “It’s time for me to go,” Patricia said.

“Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“Uh, I could say the same to you, weasel.”

“This was planned by Fabian; we’re probably going to go to a library and sit quietly.”

“Have fun reading Egyptian history from a dusty old book.”

“I’ve done enough of that for one lifetime.”

Joy knocked on the door again. “If you don’t come out, Amber said she’s gonna tell the driver to leave without you!”

“I think you better go,” Eddie said.

“Yeah, probably.”

He gave her a kiss. “Goodnight, soon-to-be wife.”

She felt a burst of warm affection in her chest. God, that was so cheesy. But that wasn’t going to stop her from being cheesy herself. “Night yourself, soon-to-be husband.”

He beamed at her with a radiant smile. “I’ll see you there, Yacker.”

Patricia dropped his hands and walked out the door, taking a glance back and getting one very last look at this doofus before she married him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed!! Please leave a comment if you did, I read them all and they really mean so much to me. Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we'll finally get to the wedding!! It might take a while before I get to posting that, I've been having a lot of fun writing the actual wedding and I'm still playing around with it. But stay tuned!!! I'm real excited for that one!!


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